LADY BULLDOGS - At the beginning of this week, Lyford High School’s varsity softball team was in first place in District 32-3A with a 7-0 record. The Lady Bulldogs dropped La Feria 11-0 last Tuesday (March 30) and got past Zapata 4-0 this past Thursday. Katrina Zamorano was the winning pitcher in both games.

Maria Lopez went one for three from the plate and batted in two runs. Zamorano went one for two. Maggie Vasquez went one for three.

“We finished the first round of our district season against La Feria with a one game lead over them, they had lost one district game at that point,” Head Coach Eloy Perez said. “We needed to get a little cushion going into the second half, we needed to go out there and play well.”

The Lady Bulldogs had to stretch out some road weariness before beating the Hawks.

“Against Zapata, well, the long trip there can take something out of you and we started out that game a little slow,” Perez said. “We finally scored three runs in the third inning and our last in the seventh while keeping Zapata pretty well in check. Katrina only allowed four hits and Zapata, who we knew were fighting for their playoff lives and did not want to start the second half in a hole, gave us a good game.”

Despite their unblemished record, Perez has his team focused on the here and now.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Perez said. “Us players and coaches do not need to be looking ahead. The girls, though, are very focused and not talking about being undefeated or saying ‘we’re this or we’re that’, they’re pretty level headed. They have been playing together for some time and every once in a while we coaches do need to pull in the reins and make sure they stay in line with what we want them to do.”

District 32-3A’s stables have plenty of horses ready to race past each other.

“We know this district is pretty tough,” Perez said. “By no means can you ever say you have an easy game in this district, you can’t slack off because all of a sudden you will find yourself tied for first or second, or out of the playoffs altogether, so you have to be ready to play on any given night.”

Lyford’s varsity and junior varsity softball teams visit Raymondville at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday.

LADY BEARKATS – At 5- 2 in District 32-3A, Raymondville High School’s varsity softball team is in a real dogfight with two other teams with second place and one of three playoff berths on the line. The Lady Bearkats are trying to wrest away the second spot from foes Rio Hondo and La Feria.

“We are in a big mess right now while we have started the second round of the district season,” Head Coach Pete Soria said.

Raymondville shut down Hidalgo 12-2 in six innings on Thursday. Adrianna Barron was the winning pitcher. Deborah Barnhart went three for four from the plate. Crystal Ramirez went two for two. Abby Cavazos went three for four.

“The girls were very focused against Hidalgo,” Soria said. “We had just beaten Zapata 2-0 in a close game earlier last week and the girls kept their focus against Hidalgo and did very well both offensively and defensively.”

Getting out of the 32-3A briar patch, and into the playoffs, will require Raymondville to take care of business.

“Plain and simple, we just have to stay focused, we have to remain concentrated and play our game,” Soria said. “Of the two losses we have, one was to Lyford and both of us played an excellent ball game in that one. Our second loss was because we had a lack of focus and La Feria came into our house and beat us 14-11.”

The Lady Bearkats will be in a tight race the rest of this season.

“This district has four, possibly five, potential teams who can explode at any time on anybody,” Soria said. “Rio Hondo, for example, is a very young team but they are still capable of taking down anyone on any given night. So this is a very competitive district.”

The Lady Bearkat varsity and junior varsity softball teams host Lyford at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday.

IN ACTION: BULLDOGS - Lyford High School’s varsity and junior varsity baseball teams host Port Isabel at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday.

Lyford High School’s junior varsity boys and girls track teams compete at the Bearkat Relays in Raymondville on Thursday. Lyford Middle School’s boys and girls track teams host the District 32-3A meet on Saturday.

Lyford High School’s varsity boys and girls golf teams compete at the Harlingen Tony Butler course in Rio Hondo on Thursday.

IN ACTION: BEARKATS - Raymondville High School’s varsity baseball team visits Rio Hondo at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Raymondville High School’s junior varsity boys and girls track teams host the Bearkat Relays on Thursday. Myra Green Middle School’s seventh and eighth grade boys and girls track teams compete at the District 32-3A meet to be held in Lyford on Saturday.