Lady Dawgs split week on opposite end of shutouts
Fri, 2016-04-08 15:25
News Staff
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Lady Dawgs softball team ranged the spectrum this week with a 10-0 shutout over Killeen at home on Monday followed by an 11-0 shutout on Tuesday at the hands the Belton Lady Tigers and ace pitcher Sidney Holman who pitched her second perfect game in as many days.
The Lady Dawgs began the week with redemption as the theme.
The Lady Dawgs looked to make up for their defensive letdown that cost them a win in the district opener in Killeen when they hosted the Lady Roos on Monday to begin the second round after a weather delay pushed the game from Friday to Monday.
Cove senior Peyton Choate felt she had even more making up to do after an offensive interference call on her prevented the bases from being loaded with one out in the bottom of the third.
Trying to avoid a foul ball off the bat of Elana Montanez, Choate left the on-deck circle and was hit by the foul as well as the pursuing defender for the out call.
She more than made up for the gaffe with a two-run home run less than a minute later.
“I was really mad at myself and coach was kind of upset with me too,” said Choate. “I knew if I didn’t get, at least a hit, I was going to be even more upset. I think I made up for it but it would have been better if she had been on.
“When I got in the batter’s box I was really relaxed because I knew I just messed up. I really saw the ball and made good contact. I knew it was over as soon as I hit it. It was very exciting.”
Choate’s home run drove home Zoe Frizzell to break the game open and give the Lady Dawgs a 4-0 lead.
“She went from the doghouse to the penthouse right there,” Copperas Cove head coach Bryan Waller said about Choate’s interference call and subsequent home run. “That’s a good way to make up for interference out.
Frizzell begin the Lady Dawgs’ scoring onslaught with a two-RBI double in the inning on a two-RBI double to the fence that scored Riley Collier and Marissa Williams.
Tessa Fain scored the final run of the inning on an error. After connecting on a double to reach, Fain advanced to third on a fielding error by Killeen’s Tanjala Smith and advanced home on the throw to first.
Choate wasn’t quite done.
In her very next at-bat, Choate connected on a basesclearing double to push the Lady Dawgs’ lead to 9-0.
“She did exactly what I wanted her to do – hit the ball hard,” said Waller. “She had a good vision out there and she hit that line drive home run over the fence and that basesclearing (triple) and broke it wide open in both of those innings.”
Cove pitcher Montanez was then able to close out her own shutout from the plate with a fielder’s choice that scored Frizzell in the bottom of the sixth after she bounced one off the fence for a triple to get in scoring position for Montanez.
“Well, it wasn’t my ideal hit but it got the job done,” Montanez said jokingly after the win.
Montanez was nearly perfect in the circle. She allowed just two hits while fanning 12 and walking just one in six innings.
“This game I really came in determined, especially after what happened last game,” she said. “In the first game we had too many walks so I was really trying to make sure I did my job on the mound and trust my girls behind me to do their jobs.”
The offensive output that accounted for 10 runs on 10 hits, led by Choate, helped Montanez stayed relaxed in the circle.
“I was very proud of Peyton,” she said. “After I got out on the pop fly, I told her to get me back and she hit the home run so I was very proud of her. Everybody made great contact and we were hitting in the holes.”
Waller thinks Montanez and her defensive support staff may be turning a corner.
“Tonight was her best night where she was in the zone of making everything work,” he said. “She made them chase some things. When she got behind, she made the next pitch count. It was a phenomenal job for her on the mound and the defense played really well behind her.”
The Lady Dawgs held Killeen’s dangerous leadoff batter Smith to no hits. Smith reached base on an error and a walk but never made it past second base.
“The biggest key for us today was we made a commitment to keep Tanjala (Smith) in check and I feel we did today,” said Waller. “She’s their catalyst and I was pleased with it.”
Killeen’s Hailey Pitts and Avalyn James connected on consecutive singles in the fifth inning for the only two Lady Roos’ hits.
Choate led the Lady Dawg batters with 2-for-3 hitting with five RBIs, a home run and a double followed by Riley Collier (2-for-2, 2R, BB), Williams (2-for-3, 2R, BB) and Frizzell (3-for-4, 3R, 2RBI). Frizzell was a home run away from hitting for the cycle. She had a double in the third inning, a single in the fourth and a triple in the sixth.
The Lady Dawgs then suffered the same fate as many teams have this season when they faced the Sidney Holman and the Belton Lady Tigers on Tuesday.
Holman struck out all 15 Cove batters faced on the way to her second perfect game in as many days.
The No. 4 ranked Lady Tigers run-ruled the Lady Dawgs 11-0 on Tuesday in Belton.
Belton’s Bethany Edwards tied the school record in single-season home runs with nine after her second blast of the night - a two-run walkoff, run-rule homer to give Belton the 11-0 win.
The win is Belton’s 20th-consecutive win and pushes their season record to 22-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in District 12-6A.
The Lady Dawgs Currently sit third in the standings at 4-4 with Ellison and Killeen battling for the fourth spot at 3-4.
The Lady Dawgs host the Ellison Lady Eagles tonight with first pitch set for 7 p.m.