Beeville native Aaliyah Ruiz, a 2018 alumna of A.C. Jones High School, is the new strikeout queen of Lamar University softball.
Ruiz, who led Beeville to back-to-back state semifinal appearances during her junior and senior campaigns, broke the school’s mark for career strikeouts on March 3 during the Cardinals’ 9-1 victory over Rider at the Boerner Invitational in Arlington.
Ruiz entered the contest with 271 career strikeouts, four shy of the record held by Laura Napoli.
She fanned one in the first, struck out another in the second and then fanned the first two batters of the third to tie Napoli on the all-time list.
Ruiz then got Maddie Luedtke swinging to lead off the fourth inning to officially take over the No. 1 spot on the program’s all-time list.
Fellow A.C. Jones alumna Felixia Hinojosa, Ruiz’s cousin, was behind the plate for the record-clinching strikeout.
Ruiz threw a complete game two-hitter and struck out six batters to get the win in five innings, her first victory of the 2023 season.
The former Lady Trojan ranks in the top 10 in every major pitching category in the Lamar record book and is in the top five in strikeouts, wins, innings pitched, shutouts, saves, appearances and complete games.
Ruiz is also the all-time leader in strikeouts at A.C. Jones. During her career in the Trojan orange and white, Beeville won more than 100 games, a pair of Region IV championships and four straight bi-district crowns.
She was the MySouTex Player of the Year, Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State Pitcher of the Year and the District 30-4A Player of the Year her senior campaign.
