Girls off to strong start
The Lady Lion softball players are off to a strong start, winning their first five games, including four games at the Eastland Tournament last weekend.
Albany started the season with a 7-5 win over Breckenridge in the home opener, followed by winning all four games in the tournament in Eastland.
The Lady Lions are entered in the Stephenville tournament this weekend, followed by a road trip to Bangs on Feb. 26.
Stephenville tourney games are set for 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 3:00 p.m. in pool play on Friday, with bracket games on Saturday.
“We were able to win these games with a very young team, starting as many as seven freshmen,” coach Jimmy Fuentes said. “Our young kids are scrappy, but they still need to learn how to play at the high school level and learn more of the complex aspects of the game.”
The Lady Lions defeated Merkel, 9-0, in the first round on Friday, followed by a second round win over Coleman, 4-2. Returning to Eastland on Saturday, Albany handed the Breckenridge Lady Bucks a second 13-4 loss in the opening week, then beat Stephenville 7-6 in the final round.
The tournament was organized in round-robin games rather than bracket play.
“In a couple of these games, we even had to come from behind for the win, so that’s a big plus for the competitiveness of our team,” Fuentes said. “If the younger girls will follow the lead of our older players, I’m sure they will step up to the next level.”
The Lady Lions advanced to the state tournament last year, losing to Bells in the semifinal game.
LADY LIONS VS MERKEL
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 R/H/E
ALBANY 1 4 4 - 9/9/0
Merkel 0 0 x - 0/1/2
INDIVIDUAL STATS
A Balliew 1 sgl, 2 runs, 1 RBI
I Alvarez 1 sgl, 2 runs
C Holson 2 sgls, 2 RBIs
A Vasquez 1 run
K Browning 1 run
S Smith 1 sgl, 1 run, 1 RBI
B Belcher 2 sgls, 2 RBIs
L Chavez 1 tpl, 1 sgl, 2 runs
Pitching - S Smith 2 IP, 1 hits, 2 BB, 3 SO
LADY LIONS VS COLEMAN
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 R/H/E
ALBANY 1 0 0 0 3 4/5/1
Coleman 1 1 0 0 x 2/5/3
INDIVIDUAL STATS
S Smith 1 sgl,
C Holson 1 sgl, 1 RBI
A Balliew 1 sgl, 2 runs
L Chavez 1 dbl, 1 run
I Alvarez 1 RBI, 1 run
B Belcher 1 sgl
Pitching - A Balliew 4 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 BB
LADY LIONS VS BRECK
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 R/H/E
ALBANY 0 1 0 0 12 13/11/4
BRECK 4 0 0 0 0 4/5/8
INDIVIDUAL STATS
S Smith 2 sgls, 2 RBIs, 1 run
A Moon 2 sgls, 2 RBIs, 2 runs
T Fuentes 1 sgl, 1 RBI, 1 run
A Garcia 1 sgl, 1 RBI, 1 run
C Holson 1 sgl, 1 dbl, 2 runs
A Balliew 1 run
A Vasquez 1 run
K Browning 1 run
I Alvarez 1 sgl, 2 runs
B Belcher 1 sgl, 1 dbl, 3 RBIs, 1 run
Pitching - A Balliew 3 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 1 SO; S Smith - 2 IP, 1 SO
LADY LIONS VS STEPHENVILLE
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 R/H/E
ALBANY 1 5 0 1 7/6/5
STPH 2 0 4 0 6/7/3
INDIVIDUAL STATS
S Smith 1 dbl, 1 RBI, 1 run
A Moon 1 dbl, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 2 runs
T Fuentes 1 sgl, 1 run
A Garcia 1 run
K Browning 1 run
B Belcher 1 dbl, 1 run
Pitching - S Smith 4 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs, 2 BB, 1 SO
