Lady Mules vs. Childress
(4-29&30-2016)
It only took the Lady Mules a
total of nine and a half innings in two games to eliminate the Childress Lady
Cats from the Texas State Softball Playoffs. The Lady Mules lost the coin flip
Friday afternoon and were deemed the visitors.
The Lady Mules took the first
game 15-4 in five innings and 15-2 in four and a half innings in the second.
The Lady Mules struck first
with three runs in the top half of the first inning. The Lady Cats appeared
ready to make a game of it with a two-run homerun and a two-RBI single to take
a 4-3 lead after one inning.
The Lady Mules shut down the
Lady Cats after that and defeated Childress 15-4 after five innings.
Saturday evening the Lady
Mules were the home team and the Lady Cats were never in the game. The Lady
Mules batted 13 in the first inning to take a 9-0 lead at the end of one
complete inning.
Childress scored one run in
the top of the second inning and one run in the top of the third inning for
their only two runs. The Lady Mules pushed two runs across in the bottom of the
third inning and four runs in the bottom of the fourth to eliminate the Lady
Cats.
Mireya Ruvalcaba got the Lady
Mules started by drawing a one out walk Friday evening. She went to second on a
throwing error on the catcher attempting to pick her off first base. Reagan
Reynolds reached first base on an error by the third baseman and went to second
on the error.
Ruvalcaba advanced to third
and then scored another throwing error by the catcher. Brittney Mendoza walked
on four straight pitches. Reynolds advanced to third and Mendoza scooted to
second on a passed ball.
Felicity Sena dropped a fly ball
with in a foot of the leftfield foul line with a spin on it that carried the
ball to the corner. Both Reynolds and Mendoza scored on the Sena base hit. The
Lady Mules led 3-0 after the first half inning.
A pop fly was field by
Ruvalcaba for the first Lady Cat out and the second batter grounded out to
Victoria Villalobos in the pitching circle. A Lady Mule error allowed a Lady
Cat base runner. The clean-up batter blasted the third pitch she saw into the
jet stream that carried the ball over the right centerfield fence to score two
runs.
A walk and back-to-back base
hits scored two more runs for a brief Lady Cats 4-3 lead. Crystal Flores
snagged a fly ball to end the first inning.
The Lady Mules batted around
in the second inning. Noa Rojas drove a ground ball up the middle for a leadoff
single. Brooklyn Beall doubled down the right field line to put lady Mules at
second and third bases.
Rojas scored on a throwing
error by the leftfielder to tie the game. Ruvalcaba laid down a bunt for a base
hit. Sasha Esparza doubled up the middle to score Beall and Ruvalcaba. Esparza
went to third on a passed ball.
Mendoza took the count full,
fouled off a pitch before drawing a walk. Mendoza ran to first, turned the corner
and stole second while the catcher was making the throw back to the pitcher.
Sena doubled to score both
Esparza and Mendoza to put the Lady Mules on top 8-3 to stay.
The Lady Cats seemed to have
a rally started with just one out and runners at first and second base. A pop
fly to the infield caused the plate umpire to call in act the ’Infield Fly Rule’
and called the batter out automatically.
The Lady Cat base runner at
second base assumed she had to run and was tagged out by Mendoza for a double
play that ended the second inning. The Lady Cats only had three base runners
after that.
Beall drew a one-out walk in
third inning and she advanced to second base on a passed ball. Ruvalcaba
singled to left centerfield to score Beall for the only Lady Mule run in the
top of the third inning.
The Lady Mules tacked on two
more runs in the top of the fourth inning with two outs. Sena sent a one-out
double to left centerfield. Villalobos tripled to score Sena. Rojas then scored
Villalobos with a single. The Lady Mules led 11-4 after three and one half
innings.
Beall dropped a hit between
the pitcher and second base for an infield single to leadoff the top of the
fifth inning. Ruvalcaba dropped a bunt down the first base line for an infield
hit. The centerfielder dropped Esparza’s fly ball to score Beall.
Reynolds reached on an error
by the second baseman. An error by the third baseman allowed Sena to reach
first base. Esparza and Reynolds both scored on the error. The Lady Mules led
15-4 after four and a half inning.
Flores had swapped places
with Villalobos in the fourth inning. Villalobos fielded a ground ball for the
first Lady Cat out of the fifth inning. Esparza caught a ball in foul territory
for the second Lady Cat out.
Flores struck out the final
batter on three straight pitches.
The Lady Mules served notice
on the Lady Cats early in the second game Saturday afternoon. A pop fly by the
first batter was fielded in foul territory by Mendoza.
Flores walked the second
batter but Sena cut her down with a perfect throw to Ruvalcaba when the base
runner attempted to steal second base. The third batter swung at the first
pitch and the ball dribbled in front of the plate. Sena scrambled out from
behind the plate and fired a strike to Esparza at first for the final out.
The Lady Mules batted 13 and
scored nine runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Lady Cats walked the
first five Lady Mules and the Lady Mules bats came alive after that with seven base
hits that included an in-the-park homerun by Ruvalcaba.
Ruvalcaba drove the ball to
right field and never stopped running.
The Lady Mules added two runs
in the bottom of the third inning and four runs in the fourth inning.
The Lady cats went in order
in the top of the fifth inning to end the game.
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