Ex-Pantherette Leal continues softball career

WESLACO — Most high school senior athletes hate that frightful day when their season comes to an end, whether it is in the regular season or in the playoffs.

As for ex-Weslaco softball player Kristy Leal, she was determined to continue on at the collegiate level and not let her softball career come to an end.

Leal received a scholarship to play at Howard College in Big Spring and completed her freshmen year with the Lady Hawks while earning a job as the starting first baseman and ended up with a .300 batting average.

Leal, a 2007 Weslaco high school graduate, said that she remembers when her Pantherettes got eliminated by La Joya in the area round of the playoffs and made the decision to play college ball.

"When that last out was recorded against La Joya, I was so upset because my high school playing days were over," said Leal. "But, it was also memorable because we went two rounds deep when everyone said it couldn't be done."

"From there, I decided to go to a tryout at Howard College and drove 600 miles in one day to get there. There was a lot of competition that I went against during the tryout. There were girls from California, Houston, Dallas, and others from the Valley. But, the coaches liked my style and I was awarded a scholarship."

"I was extremely excited because I was going to play the sport I loved for another four years."

Leal talked about the adjustments from playing at the high school level to the college level and the challenges she faced.
"It was a big step up from playing in high school," said Leal.

"The conditioning and expectations of the coaches were a lot different. We practiced two a days at the beginning and ran 2 ½ miles in the morning. Also, we hit the weights, ran agility drills and sprints."

"There were a lot of different drills that we worked on also. Our coach preached offense and that was the key component to our success."

"I got an opportunity to become a starter and for the first couple of games in the season, I was a little off. But, I made some adjustments to my batting and it started working for me. It was a tough adjustment at first but eventually I got in a groove."

Overall, Leal said her first year was a learning experience and is preparing for her sophomore season.

"I expected it to be hard my first year, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to my second year," said Leal.
"I know what I have to do now and basically have worked all of the kinks out. Now, I want to help my team get to regionals and have a better season than last year."

Howard College head softball coach Kelly Raines said that she was impressed with Leal when she first saw her.

"At the tryouts, I noticed that she was a solid player both defensively and at the plate," said Raines. "When we signed her, she worked very hard and earned a spot as a starter for us. She is such a good kid and really meant a lot to our program. I see big things to come for Kristy (Leal) this next year."