Girls play well against bigger opponents

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions took on seven opponents from larger schools last week, winning once and playing well in a string of close losses.

On Tuesday, March 8, the Lady Lions began their final week of nondistrict play with a 11-6 loss to Breckenridge at Webb Park. Albany takes on the Abilene Cooper JV at 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 11 at home before opening District 8-2A against Cross Plains at noon Monday, March 14 at home.

On Tuesday, March 1 Albany lost 5-2 to Stephenville at home.

The Lady Lions spent the weekend at the Clifton tournament. Albany opened the tourney Thursday, March 3 with a 9-4 victory over Maypearl before falling 6-3 to Gatesville. On March 4, Albany lost 11-0 to Clifton and 4-3 to Glen Rose. On Saturday, March 5, the Lady Lions lost 4-2 to McGregor and 12-6 to Comanche.

“I would like a little more consistency, but it’s tough to get that against those bigger schools,” Lady Lions coach Jimmy Fuentes said. “This last tournament, we were a little up and down, but mostly up.”

Stephenville, Gatesville, and Glen Rose are in the same Class 4A district, while Maypearl, Clifton, McGregor, and Comanche compete in Class 3A.

“We still have spots where we’ll commit a couple of errors and extend an inning,” Fuentes said. “Hopefully we’ll get that out of our system by playing these tougher teams.”

In the Clifton tournament, most games were cut short because of the time limit. The Lady Lions won’t have to deal with that in district play.

“We’ve got to look at both sides of that,” Fuentes said. “We’ve got to go seven innings and play to the very end. We can’t let time help us or hurt us.”

Against Stephenville, four Albany errors contributed to four unearned runs. The Lady Jackets took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth inning.

Haily Cox went 2 for 3 with a double and scored both Albany runs. Robin Lucas, Ashlyn Holson, Ana Balliew, and Sara Smith each had one hit with Balliew driving in a run.

Balliew pitched six inning, allowing one earned run on seven hits. Carissa Barrera worked the seventh, giving up an unearned run on one hit.

Against Maypearl, Albany scored six runs in the third and three in the fifth to overcome an early 3-0 deficit.

Every Albany starter had a hit, and five drove in runs. Ansleigh Garcia was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Holson was 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Lucas, who doubled, and Balliew were both 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Sara Smith, Gracie Price, and Kam Browning were all 1 for 3. Price and Browning both doubled with Browning driving in a run.

Braylyn Abbate and Cox were both 1 for 2.

Balliew pitched three innings, giving up three runs on four hits. Barrera worked an inning before the game was called on the time limit, allowing a run on two hits.

Against Gatesville, Balliew was tagged for six runs in the fourth. The time limit prevented Albany from batting in the fifth. Balliew was charged with four earned runs on nine hits over 4.1 innings. Barrera worked two thirds of an inning.

Balliew drove in two runs, while Holson, Smith, and Barrera, who doubled, were all 1 for 2.

Against Clifton, Albany stayed close until the tournament host broke loose for eight runs in the third inning.

Holson, Lucas, Smith, and Browning each had a single for the Lady Lions.  Balliew was charged with nine earned runs on 12 hits, six of which went for extra bases.

Against Glen Rose, Albany led 3-2 in the second before giving up two runs in the third. Cox doubled in two runs and scored when Holson reached on an error.

Abbate added a double, while Holson, Lucas, and Price had singles.

Barrera pitched 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits.

Against McGregor, Balliew hit a two-run homer and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits.

Holson, Price, Barrera, and Garcia each had one hit. Barerra pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

Against Comanche, Smith, who doubled, and Balliew each drove in two runs. Lucas and Cox were both 1 for 2 with an RBI.

Holson, who tripled, and Garcia were both 2 for 2, while Browning added a hit.

Barrera pitched the first two innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits. Balliew finished up, allowing four runs on five hits.