Lady Eagles drop Game One
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The Como-Pickton Lady Eagles went to Tyler Legacy Tuesday, for Game One in their best-of-three set against Lovelady in the Regional Semifinals. The series featured two of the top teams in the state of Texas, as Lovelady ended the regular season ranked No. 5, while Como-Pickton was ranked No. 6.
Como-Pickton was the road team in Game One and were unable to get much offense going in the beginning. Their only baserunner in the top of the first was Mattison Buster, who was intentionally walked, a trend which is she is all too familiar with.
Buster found herself in trouble from the very beginning on the mound, though it wasn’t her own fault. Lovelady opened the frame by reaching base on an error, which would turn into a run after a double from the next batter. With two outs in the inning Lovelady plated another pair of runs with another double, pushing their lead to 3-0, though all three runs were charged as unearned runs.
The Lady Eagles had just one baserunner in the top of the second, this time Maggie Brown, who reached base on a dropped third strike. The next batter struck out as well, and Lovelady’s LaRue had a rare inning in which she struck out four batters.
Buster opened the bottom of the second on a very strong note, opening the frame up with a pair of strikeouts. Lovelady refused to go down easy though, as they put together a huge two-out rally in which they scored three runs on four hits, pushing their lead to 6-0.
In the top of the third the Lady Eagles continued their streak of getting a runner on base each inning, this time thanks to a Mackensa Morris leadoff walk. Lovelady was able to get a pick off at first, before retiring the next two batters on a pair of groundouts to get out of the frame still ahead by six runs.
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Lovelady once again added to their lead in the bottom of the third, though they did so on another unearned runs. The leadoff batter reached on an error and came in to score, pushing the lead to 7-0, with just three of the runs being charged as earned runs.
They kept the bats going into the bottom of the fourth, where they opened the inning with back-to-back singles to get things started. Both of those runners and one more would come in to score on another error, pushing the lead to 10-0.
Going into the top of the fifth, needing at least one run to keep the game going, it was Brown who drew a one-out walk to give the Lady Eagles some hope. Judah Van Rijn immediately followed with Como-Pickton’s first hit of the game, a double which put runners on second and third.
With two runners in scoring position and only one out, Como-Pickton was in by far their best position in the game. Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, Lovelady buckled down and got the next two batters to go down, one on a strikeout and one on a pop out to put the game away.
Despite the Lady Eagles falling by a final score of 10-0, Buster only allowed three earned runs in the contest. Como-Pickton will travel back to Tyler Legacy Thursday, looking to even the series up and force a Game Three.
Thursday’s contest is set for 6 p.m. with Game Three, if needed, being set for Saturday. Both the time and location for Game Three have yet to be decided. Continued coverage of this series will be provided on Front Porch News.
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