7th inning rally not enough for Lady Dawgs
Sat, 2016-03-05 15:14
News Staff
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
KILLEEN - Not much has gone right for the young Lady Dawgs softball program this season and that didn’t change on Tuesday night in the District 12-6A opener against the Killeen Lady Kangaroos.
An error-filled second inning put the Lady Dawgs in a 6-1 hole but a six-run top of the seventh inning looked like the Lady Dawgs might snatch victory from the hands of defeat.
Killeen had other ideas, however.
The Lady Roos connected on four base hits for three runs in the bottom half of the inning for the walk off win.
“When we gave those four unearned runs in that second inning, that was a huge difference,” said Cove head softball coach Bryan Waller. “We wouldn’t have needed that big comeback at the end of the game. I loved their fight and how they didn’t give up at the end. Getting those six runs was huge but then coming out flat on defense and not doing what we’re supposed to do was a huge let down.”
Killeen took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Tangala Smith stole second base and was batted forward on a sacrifice bunt by Destiny Allen before advancing home on a throw for the first run of the night.
The Lady Dawgs answered back with a run in the top of the second.
A triple by Jayda Carter put her in scoring position and she scored on a sacrifice fly ball by designated hitter Riley Collier.
The Lady Roos broke the game open in the bottom half of the inning. A double by Oslyn Rodriquez started things off a and a pair of singles by Smith and Allen gave Killeen a one-run lead. Three-consecutive fielding errors by the Lady Dawgs then allowed four more runs to cross the plate for the 6-1 Killeen advantage.
The Lady Dawgs added two more runs in the top of the third and another in the top of the fifth to pull within two runs 6-4.
A single by Tessa Fain got the Lady Dawgs started to begin the third inning. Peyton Choate singled after a 12-pitch at-bat and Carter punched out a sacrifice fly to account for the two runs.
A solo home run by Carter in the fifth made it a two-run game.
Killeen had answers to regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth, however.
A single by Kelsey White got the Lady Roos going and singles by Smith and Allen knocked in runs for the 8-4 lead.
The Lady Dawgs took advantage of their final time at the plate. They combined on five hits for six runs to take a 10-8 lead.
Pitcher Elana Montanez helped her own cause with a one-out double before a single by Choate and a walk by Carter loaded the bases.
Makael Burgess then connected of a full-count single to score Montanez and Choate. Madison Wasiak singled to score Carter.
A single by Zoe Frizzell scored Burgess and Wasiak to give the Lady Dawgs a 9-8 lead and Marissa Williams drove home Frizzell for the final run of the inning and a 10-8 Cove lead.
A single by Jackie Varella to lead off the bottom of the seventh put the tying run at the plate where McKenzie Kudla knocked her home on an RBi double.
An intentional walk for Smith loaded the bases and a single by Allen knotted the game at 10-all.
Another intentional walk put Hailey Pitts on the base paths before another single, this one by Shaylynn Murk, knocked home the walk-off run.
A clearly disappointed Waller was hoping his young squad would develop a little faster with a brutal District 12-6A slate in front of them.
“It is a little bit slower than I was hoping but this is softball,” he said. “These girls have been playing softball since they were knee-high to a grasshopper. It’s nothing different. I expect them to play the way they are supposed to be playing and they didn’t do that tonight.
“We haven’t won many games so we had plenty of opportunities to learn from losses. Until we learn from those, we will keep making the same mistakes. It’s up to them if they want to figure this out or not. They have it in them to be great but they have to want to be great.”
Zoe Frizzell led the Cove batters. She was 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Choate (2-for-4, 2R, RBI), Carter (2-for-4, R, 2RBI), Williams (2-for-4, RBI), Montanez (1-for-3, R), Wasiak (1-for-3, R, RBI), Burgess (1-for-4, R, 2 RBI) and Tessa Fain (1-for-4, R) also contributed hits for the Lady Dawgs.
Allen (3-for-5, 2R, 2RBI) led the way for Killeen.
The Lady Dawgs compete in the Hillsboro Tournament for some more non-district action before returning to the District 12-6A slate with a home contest against Belton on Tuesday.