The Alice Lady Coyotes are heading to the softball playoffs for the first time in eight years.
They will open the postseason with Game 1 of the Class 4A playoffs against Rio Hondo on Friday night in the Rio Grande Valley. Game 2 of the three-game series will be played in Alice on Saturday, as well as game 3, if necessary.
They made it to the postseason with great clutch hitting, tremendous defense and super pitching.
The average high-school softball pitcher throws between 55-59 miles per hour, but Lady Coyotes pitcher Ava Hernandez can rev it up into the mid 60's, and she's only a sophomore. She's still learning.
"In all honesty, I don't know where I get all my power from," she said. "I just go up there and use my entire body to throw the ball."
Regardless of where her power comes from, she has been a big key to the Lady Coyotes success this year.
Emotion is running high this week for all the players as they prepare for their first playoff series since 2013.
"It's been a very exciting season being my senior year," said Alice catcher Maylynn Saenz. "Having this moment one last time is amazing,"
"Last year, we got our season cut short because of the pandemic, and I thought we had a great team then, too," said Alice outfielder Mia Longoria. "We have a really good team this year, too, and being a senior it means a lot to finally make the playoffs."
