By PETE BANDA
Special to the NEWS
In just the second year since the return of future Hall of Fame head coach Elias Martinez, the Lady ’Hounds have found themselves back on top of the Valley softball mountain. With an 8-1 thrashing of the second-ranked Lady Falcons last Friday, San Benito officially clinched its first district title since 2019.
The Lady ’Hounds closed out the season with a 4-2 victory over Weslaco, marking their school record 30th victory of the season and pushing their win streak to an eye-popping 18 straight games.
With its historic regular season in the rearview mirror, San Benito will look to etch its names among the greatest teams in Valley history with a deep playoff run. Martinez has had several impressive regular seasons, but it’s the playoff performances that separate what he classifies as greatness.
“We’ve had a lot of talent come through here over the years and we’ve won a lot of games, but Lady ’Hound softball has a high standard and we’re judged based on what we do in the post-season,” said Martinez. “We know our potential and if we just play our game, we should be able to continue our success into the playoffs.”
San Benito hasn’t lost a game since March 2, and allowed a ridiculously low 51 runs through 33 games. By contrast, the Purple and Gold put up a Valley-best 323 runs while leading district 32-6A in home runs and multi-base hits.
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