Lady Tigers edge Lady Dawgs in 12-6A slugfest

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Belton Lady Tigers and Copperas Cove Lady Bulldawgs combined for 30 hits and 35 runs in a slugfest in a 20-15 Belton win to open District 12-6A play Tuesday night at Lady Dawg Field.
After falling behind 6-0, the Lady Dawgs twice rallied to get back in the game with a five-run bottom of the third inning before answering a five-run fifth inning by Belton with an eight-run bottom half of the fifth to take a 14-12 lead.
The Lady Tigers then added three more runs in the top of the sixth to take a one-run lead over the Lady Dawgs 15-14, but the Lady Dawgs got one run across home plate in the bottom half of the inning to knot the game at 15-all heading into the final inning.
The Lady Tigers then scored five unanswered runs in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
The Lady Tigers came out swinging in the first inning with five runs in the top of the first led by singles by Mia Garza, Esperanza Moreno, Lole Reyes, and a sacrifice fly by Kaylee Jordan.
Another Garza single pushed the Lady Tigers ahead 6-0 in the top of the third before the Lady Dawgs put together their first rally.
After Anissa Amaro was hit by a pitch and Channing Perry was walked, Amaro scored on an RBI groundout by Meagan Hunt and Perry scored on an error to start the rally. 
Larisa Perez then connected on a two-run home run to  score Wasiak, who walked to reach. JoJo Hair then added another run on a solo shot over the left field fence to bring the Lady Dawgs within a run, 6-5.
An RBI single by M. Drake then scored Reyes after she doubled to right field to reach to give the Lady Tigers a two-run advantage, 7-5, in the top of the fourth inning.
A pair of Lady Tiger errors allowed a Cove run in the bottom half of the inning to again make it a one-run contest, 7-6.
The Lady Tigers again got five runs across home plate in the top of the fifth inning with singles by R Curran and Drake paired with some Copperas Cove errors for a 12-6 Belton lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. 
The Lady Dawgs began their second rally with a two-RBI double by Amaro that scored Hair, who reached on an error and Lynsey Robinson, who singled to reach. 
An RBI single by Alejandro Espinoza and an RBI triple by Hunt brought the Lady Bulldawgs within two runs, 12-10.
An RBI single by Wasiak and a single by Perez put two more runners on the base paths before Iliana Buitron connected on a two-run home run to swing the lead to the Lady Dawgs, 14-12, heading into the sixth inning.
The Lady Tigers responded with back-to-back home runs with a two-run shot by Moreno and a solo home run by Jordan for the 15-14 Belton lead.
A leadoff walk by Perry gave the Lady Dawgs a base runner in the bottom half of the inning and Perez took advantage with an RBI double to left field to tie the game at 15-all heading into the seventh and final inning.
A walk by Myers and a single by Rodriguez put runners on for Belton and a sacrifice fly by Garza scored the first of five Belton runs in the inning.
An RBI groundout by Jordan added another run before a three-run home run by Reyes closed out the scoring for the 20-15 Belton final score.
A pair of walks by Robinson and Amaro put runners on for the Lady Dawgs in the bottom half of the inning, but they could not get any runs home.
Perez (3 for 5, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, 2B, HR) led the Lady Dawgs while Robinson added 2 for 3 hitting with a run and two walks. Hair (2 for 5, 2R, RBI, 3B, HR), Hunt (2 for 5, R, RBI, 3B), Wasiak (1 for 4, 2R, RBI, BB), Amaro (1 for 3, 3R, 2RBI, 2B, BB), Buitron (1 for 5, R, 2RBI, HR) and Espinoza (1 for 1) accounted for the rest of Cove’s 13 hits.
Moreno (3 for 4, 4R, 3RBI, 2BB, HR) and Reyes (3 for 5, 4R, 3RBI, 2B, HR, BB) led the Lady Tigers.
Robinson allowed 12 earned runs on 17 hits while striking out four and walking eight in seven in seven innings in the circle for the Lady Dawgs.
Reyes allowed five earned runs on five hits while striking out 11 and walking six in 5 ⅔ innings while Jordan allowed seven earned runs on eight hits while fanning one in 1 ⅓ innings of work.
The Lady Dawgs (7-6-1, 0-1 in District 12-6A play) will travel to Killeen to face Shoemaker while Belton (5-6-1, 1-0) will host Bryan tonight. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch.