“Walk-off” is a sports term that has emerged over the past few years, one used to describe the winning of a contest on the game’s last play. There are numerous examples. Kirk Gibson’s pinch hit home run in the bottom of the ninth off of Dennis Eckersley in Game One of the 1988 World Series gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics. Stefon Diggs’ dash into the end zone after catching a pass from Case Keenum on the last play of the fourth quarter in an NFL play-off game that allowed the Minnesota Vikings to take down the New Orleans Saints in 2018 on a play that has been dubbed the “Minneapolis Miracle.”

As I began reflecting on what I witnessed this past year covering the teams of the Big 7 it was rather easy for me to decide on what I thought the years’ best moments were. The first game I ever covered for this paper ended with a walk-off.

The Lady Patriots of Mission Veterans came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning trailing Sharyland Pioneer 4-3 in a district softball game last April. Freshman Natalie Cardenas and senior catcher Justine Galvan started the comeback with back to back hits and Veterans tied the game on pitcher Jazmine Villarreal’s RBI single. Another single from junior outfielder Arielle Quijada plated the game winner as the Lady Patriots won 5-4.

Thus began my introduction to sports in the Big 7. There has not been much of a letdown either. Each week and each sport I covered had its’ own share of exciting moments. Teams from the Big 7 garnered numerous district titles and post season victories. A good number of individual athletes posted outstanding accomplishments as well.

Still it is the walk-offs I’ll remember most.

One of the top stories of this past year was the Sharyland Pioneer baseball teams’ playoff run all the way to the Class 5A state semi-finals. That run included a memorable regional final match-up against rival Sharyland High that the Diamondbacks won in a two game sweep at UTRGV.

What many may not recall is the best of three bi-district match-up against Corpus Christi Veterans in May. After dropping Game 1, the Diamondbacks found themselves down 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning in what would be, if the lead held, a season ending loss in Game 2. Down to their last out, Pioneer rallied to tie it and, one inning later, win it 2-1 on an Angel Nunez RBI double. Evan Maldonado pitched a complete game for the Diamondbacks to aid the effort. After falling behind early in Game 3, another comeback resulted in a 7-2 win that kept their history making season moving forward.

The drama continued this past fall with a pair of games on the gridiron and one on the volleyball court.

Trailing 35-31 the La Joya Palmview Lobos football team knocked off Mission Veterans in early November when Alexis Gonzalez snagged a tipped pass from David Gonzalez out of the air in the back of the end zone to score on the game’s last play to defeat the Patriots... Click here to read full article

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