The Aledo offense pushed across 8 runs on 13 hits in Thursday’s 8-2 Game 1 victory over Lubbock Monterey, while the defense came up with a pair of outs on the bases. One of those defensive outs came when left fielder Reagan Davis threw out a runner at home in the top of the first inning to keep Lubbock Monterey’s early lead at 1-0.
As they have all postseason, the Ladycats came right back in the bottom of the first inning after facing the rare early deficit.
Aledo scored on a pair of bases-loaded walks to Presley Hull and Allison Mallard. Both teams had trouble figuring out the home plate umpire’s strike zone early in the game. The Ladycats never trailed after taking the 2-1 lead in the first inning.
Aledo scored twice more in the bottom of the second inning on four hits and a hit batter, but left the bases load with a chance to really open up the lead. Macy Graf had a triple and Marissa Powell followed with an RBI single to make it 3-1. Texas Ray followed with a single before Hull added her second RBI with a single to make it 4-2.
Starting pitcher Kayleigh Smith pitched three and a third innings and gave up both of the Monterey runs. Coach Heather Myers brought in lefty Brenlee Gonzales, who got Aledo out of a game with a pair of strikeouts. Gonzales stuck out six in 3 and two thirds innings of relief, including five of the first six batters she faced.
My phone came up with a nickname for Brenlee when it autocorrected her name into Breaker Gonzales. Gonzales had Monterey swinging at air when she threw her off speed pitch.
The Ladycat offense gave Gonzales extra cushion when they scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Madysen Boutwell led off the inning with a double, then moved to third on a single by Ana Flores. The Ladycats then pulled off a double steal when Flores stole second and Boutwell went home on the throw to second.
Flores scored when Claire Byars reached base on an error. Graf drove in the final run with a single. Graf was 2-3 with a pair of RBIs. Hull was also 2-3 with a pair of RBIs, while Marissa Powell had three hits, scored twice and had an RBI.
The Ladycats improved to 32-2 and will look to advance to the 5A state softball tournament for the second consecutive year with a victory tomorrow. Game 2 will be played at 10 a.m. and if a Game 3 is needed it will be played after Game 2.
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