Lady Stangs hold on series lead
MARBLE FALLS — Nursing a 5-4 lead, the Marble Falls High School softball players trotted out to the field in the top of the seventh inning against Smithson Valley May 5.
The Lady Mustangs (21-10) eventually claimed a 1-0 lead in the first game of the best-of-three series.
Game 2 will be 6 p.m. May 6 at Smithson Valley with game 3 to follow, if necessary, 30 minutes after the second game.
The game see-sawed back and forth with neither squad yielding an inch.
Sophomore pitcher Alicia Macias struck out the first batter. Alexandria Alonzo hit a standup double to center field, while Macias forced the next batter to hit into a 6-3 out.
Lindsay Hood stepped to the plate and hit a grounder between second and third base.
Senior left fielder Mattie Counts charged after the ball, knowing Alonzo had rounded third and was intent on scoring the game-tying run.
But the throw was on target to senior catcher Mackinzee Mayfield, who caught the ball and turned to her left to tag the runner as she dove head first and tried to avoid the tag.
It was no use. Mayfield tagged Alonzo, forcing the umpire to call her out at home to end the contest.
“It was a fun game to be a part of,” head coach Tino Salazar said.
Marble Falls scored in the first inning. Senior Payton Peril drew a walk to start the game and scored when sophomore Hailey Wooten hit a standup RBI double to the left-center field gap.
“It’s nice to get ahead early even if we don’t hold it,” Salazar said. “It woke us up and woke them up”
The Rangers, ranked No. 8 in the latest Class 4A poll, took the lead in the third, scoring two runs off five hits and stranded two.
“I felt like we had a little bit of pressure,” the Lady Mustangs skipper said. “I felt like we were pressing.”
They added to the lead when the first batter laid down a bunt and scored on the throwing error to first when the ball was thrown too high and rolled to the wall.
Salazar said he was happy to see his players not allow one error to become more.
“We could have shut down,” he said. “For us to get out of the inning with just one run was huge.”
The Lady Mustangs tied the game in the fourth thanks to a 2 RBI single from sophomore Abby Henry.
After Smithson Valley tied the game in the fifth, Marble Falls took control in its half of the inning.
Peril, freshman Amanda Thomas and Wooten each drew free bases. Mayfield picked up the RBI on a fielder’s choice, while Macias hit an RBI single down the right-field line for the go-ahead run.
Game 2 will be at Smithson Valley with game 3 to follow, if necessary, 30 minutes after the second game.