Trust, hitting surge help Levelland down Snyder twice to earn No. 2 playoff seed
LEVELLAND — Over the course of her four-year varsity career, Chloe Constantino has never felt comfortable in her position.
She certainly didn't feel rock-solid as a bright-eyed freshman, backing up the long-standing catcher for the Levelland softball team. Even as a senior, Constantino hasn't let herself slip up, knowing how important she is to the team and its potential success. It's pressure, but the good kind.
One of the big changes Constantino has undergone in that time, she said, has been her vocal leadership. She understands her role and wants to bring others along with her.
More often than not, it's her bat that does most of the talking for Constantino.
Hosting Snyder in the regular-season finale, Levelland utilized the one-two punch atop the batting order in speedy sophomore Saydi Mendez and Constantino to break out of a slump. Lady Tigers pitcher Ava Aviles commanded the strike zone through three innings and kept the Loboettes off the base paths.
Mendez was ready to counter. In her second at-bat of the game, the center fielder unloaded on an offering from Aviles and sprinted all the way around for a two-run, inside-the-park home run.
The spell had been broken.
Constantino followed with a solo home run and added another one in Levelland's five-run bottom sixth to secure an 11-6 victory.
That, however, was just the start of the night.
Levelland's win left both teams at 7-3 in District 5-4A play. It was decided before the game that, should this very scenario play out, they would play the tiebreaker right then and there Friday night.
"The momentum coming in from that (first) game into the next game definitely helped," Constantino said.
Mendez started the tiebreaker with a home run, Constantino followed with a double, and the floodgates opened. The Loboettes (24-7) ran away with a 13-3, five-inning triumph for the sweep, earning the No. 2 seed in the playoffs in the process.
Snyder (18-10 overall) held a 4-0 lead through 3½ innings in the first game. Saleigh Hernandez's grand slam, coupled with Aviles' six strikeouts, put the Loboettes in the hole. Lucky for the home team, they had a speedster ready to burn rubber.
"When Saydi got that thing down, it set us off," Levelland coach Ryan Miller said. "We got set off and we didn't stop. Our bats finally showed up, and here we are."
Mendez's first four-bagger of the day was the first hit Aviles allowed. From there, it was a Levelland offensive showcase, totaling 20 hits and 24 runs over the next eight innings of play.
A moment early in the first game showed the level of trust Miller has in his players, particularly the seniors that played their final games on their home field.
Natalie Coronado started the game in the circle for Levelland and noticed something interesting. Her personal strike zone and what the home-plate umpire was calling weren't lining up. Snyder was hitting her well, loading the bases in the third.
"She was like, 'Coach, they've got me timed up,'" Miller said. "She's a smart-enough player that she knows when it's time, so that's when she called me to the mound, we had a talk. I said, 'You sure?' And she was like, 'Absolutely. They're ready. It needs to be (Aubriana Rivas).'"
Rivas gave up the grand slam in her second batter faced but otherwise kept Levelland in the game the rest of the way. She followed with a solid effort in the tiebreaker, finishing the night with 9⅔ innings of work and a pair of wins.
Coronado encouraged her coach to remove her from the game as a pitcher, though she would deliver a solo home run in the sixth to help her team win the first game.
"She was like 'This is what's best for the team,'" Miller said. "And that's what I like about our seniors. They're self-aware people. They like to do what's best for the team. ... I listen to my kids, to what they're doing and everything that's going on."
Coronado and Constantino wanted to do things right one last time at home.
"I think the fact that we knew it was senior night," Constantino said, "we wanted to do it for each other. We knew it was our last time together. Let's come out with a bang, and we did it."
District 5-4A softball
REGULAR-SEASON FINALE
Levelland 11, Snyder 6
Snyder 000 420 0 — 6 7 5
Levelland 000 335 x — 11 10 6
Ava Aviles and Saleigh Hernandez (5). Natalie Coronado and Aubriana Rivas. W — Rivas. L — Hernandez. 2B — Levelland, Rivas. 3B — Levelland, Saydi Mendez. HR — Snyder, Hernandez; Levelland, Mendez, Chloe Constantino (2) and Coronado.
SECOND-PLACE TIEBREAKER
Levelland 13, Snyder 3 (5)
Snyder 001 20 — 3 4 6
Levelland 661 0x — 13 10 2
Ava Aviles and Faith Rosas (3). Aubriana Rivas. W — Rivas. L — Aviles. 2B — Snyder, Tayla Jamison, Kyra Solis; Levelland, Chloe Constantino (2), Angelica Gonzalez, Delylah Paredez, Breanna Martinez, Natalie Coronado, Madalon Rico . 3B — Levelland, Constantino. HR — Levelland, Mendez.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Trust, hitting surge help Levelland softball down Snyder twice to earn No. 2 playoff seed
