Write a new simple attractive title based on the title from Weslaco Lady Panthers won the 6A softball title on June 1 and dont use quote marks

Whenever you are in the Rio Grande Valley you will hear the term Puro 956 or the RGV. Those two terms mean a lot to valley people. We have a sense of pride being from the Rio Grande Valley.

I am originally from the RGV but have called Laredo my home for the past 29 years. I was born in Weslaco but raised in Raymondville and for 18 glorious years I called the Rio Grande Valley my home before moving away to attend college at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

While I have not lived in the RGV for the past 33 years, I still consider myself a valley girl. I try to keep up will all sports in the Rio Grande Valley and when a team starts getting deep in the playoffs, and when I can, I will attend games. It does not matter if the team is from Harlingen, McAllen, Roma or Weslaco.

People from the 956 tend to get behind any valley team that is deep in the playoffs. In the fall it was Brownsville Veterans Memorial who made it all the way to the Final Four in Class 5A. This softball season it was Harlingen South and Weslaco and all of the Rio Grande Valley was rooting for them when they earned spots at the Class 5A and Class 6A State Softball Tournament in Austin.

To have one softball team from the Rio Grande Valley in the state tournament is uncommon but two teams in the same season is mind blowing. I was pulling for both teams but when it comes to the state tournament, the Rio Grande Valley teams have not fared well. Prior to this season, San Benito and Weslaco had represented the Rio Grande Valley but lost in the state semifinals.

Harlingen South and Weslaco did the unthinkable, they beat their opponent in the state semifinals. Both teams dug deep inside to become the first sports teams from the 956 to play for the state championship. Harlingen South beat Aledo 1-0 and Weslaco had to go into extra innings to take down the No. 1 in Texas, Denton Guyer 5-3.

On Saturday, June 1,  the entire Rio Grande Valley was rooting for both Harlingen South and Weslaco, including this sports reporter. I was at a family function on Saturday, so I was unable to attend. Last year when the San Benito softball team was playing at the state tournament I was in the stands.

I was glued to my phone, sneaking a peek at the game whenever I could and was invested on what was going on so many miles away from me. Harlingen South lost 9-0 to Melissa in the Class 5A. It broke my heart. Weslaco was our last hope.

Things looked grim for the Lady Panthers when Waco-Midway blasted four home runs. Believe me, it was hard to watch. After six innings Waco-Midway took a 9-3 lead heading into the final inning.

Weslaco was up to bat. This was their last opportunity. No team in the state championship game had ever come back from that deficit. The Lady Panthers were down six runs. Waco-Midway was able to secure the first out. Hope was quickly fading away from this sports reporter but deep down inside I was not giving up. You see before picking up a pen (gravely exaggerated since I only type everything on my laptop), I roamed the sidelines as a high school basketball coach. It is not over until the clock has expired or the last out.

Then, Weslaco put together one of the greatest comeback in high school sports history. I would not be surprised if one day the Lady Panthers storybook ending becomes a Disney movie like McFarland or the Long Game.

Dayla Hinojosa made it to third base on a throwing error. Alexis Solis ripped an RBI single. Then Lola Reyes and Mia Rodriguez drew walks to load the bases. After Clarissa Mejia got hit by a pitch to make it 9-5. Elizabeth Craig hit an RBI single followed by a Romy Nunez hit to load the bases as the score read 9-7.

Sophomore Andrea Ortiz, stepped to the plate and on a 3-2 count with one out, blasted a walk off grand slam home run to help Weslaco earn the Rio Grande Valley’s first state title for any girls’ sports.

While the Rio Grande Valley has state titles in football (Donna ’61), boys’ soccer (Sharyland ‘15, Hidalgo ‘09, Brownsville Lopez ’04, Brownsville Porter ’06 & ’16, Brownsville Rivera ‘15) no girls’ team had ever won one in any sport.

The state title was not only for Weslaco High, or the City of Weslaco but for the Rio Grande Valley. The RGV has shown a tremendous amount of support for the Lady Panthers and have been celebrated ever since arriving back to Weslaco.

“I did not realize the significance of what we had accomplished,” Weslaco head coach Mario Rodriguez said. “It was not until people from across the Rio Grande Valley started to reach out to us and we have had so many events. Weslaco is a special place. The whole community from the superintendent to our school administrator have been behind us a 100 percent. I am not going to say that we put Weslaco on the map, there has been a lot of great things happening in Weslaco, but this is special. We brought a state championship to Weslaco and the Rio Grande Valley.”

The state championship in Class 6A is hard to obtain, so this championship was also for South Texas. Prior to every state tournament, UIL always puts out a Texas map with star and name of each school, from class 1A to 6A who earned a state berth.

Notice the stars are always packed by North Texas while South Texas rarely has any. This softball season, three, yes three South Texas teams were fighting for a state title and two were able to accomplish that goal.

Calallen successfully defended their Class 4A title while Harlingen South was the runner up and Weslaco claimed the 6A title. All three teams were pulling for each other. Harlingen South and Weslaco took pics together while Calallen greeted Weslaco at the hotel after their 13 inning marathon that send them to the championship game. Class act by Calallen who were chanting “South Texas bring it (championship) home.”

I am extremely happy for Weslaco and to be from the Rio Grande Valley. I will never forget the RGV and carry it with pride because we are Puro 956!