Lady Lions fight to overcome adjustments
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions endured a difficult week, splitting games with Baird and Cross Plains, as they look to get back on the right path with the softball playoffs looming.
Albany (15-12-1 overall, 7-3 District 8-2A) visited Cisco on Tuesday, April 18, falling 15-0. Details will be reported next week.
The Lady Lions close out regular play at 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 21 with a road game at Eula. The Class 2A playoffs start next week.
On Tuesday, April 11, Albany outlasted Baird 21-14. On Friday, April 14, the Lady Lions suffered a 19-4 loss at Cross Plains.
The team is dealing with an adverse situation following the loss of a player two weeks ago, leaving Albany with the minimum nine on the roster. Coach Jimmy Fuentes has been left facing decisions normally made in February as he tries to reconstruct the lineup with little flexibility.
“It’s frustrating,” Fuentes said, “We shouldn’t have to be making these kinds of adjustments this late in the season, but nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, and we have do the best we can.”
Fuentes said he hopes the team can learn from the situation and bounce back.
“That’s what competitive athletics is about, learning about life situations,” he said, “We’ve got some adversity, and we’ll do what we can to slap it down.”
Against Baird, the lead changed hands six times before Albany snapped a 12-12 tie with seven runs in the fifth inning. Caroline Chapman singled in the go-ahead run, and Madison Parrott’s two-run single gave Albany an insurmountable lead.
Parrott drove in seven runs in going 3 for 6, while Gracie Price was 5 for 5 with a double and five RBIs. Robin Lucas doubled twice and drove in three runs. Kaisley Bartee, Haily Cox, and Jayden Kelly all had three hits. Gabby Lopez hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the fourth.
Lucas pitched a complete game with five strikeouts for the win, giving up six hits and 12 walks. She was charged with just four earned runs as Albany committed seven errors.
At Cross Plains, Lucas was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs, while Price went 1 for 2 with an RBI. Cox scored twice after drawing walks.
Lucas’ run-scoring single in the first gave Albany a short-lived 1-0 lead, then the Lady Buffs responded with 10 runs in the bottom of the inning.
Cross Plains hit three home runs, two in the first inning, and finished with 13 hits. Lucas also issued six walks before the game was ended on the run rule in the fourth inning.
The Lady Buffs led 12-1 after two innings before Lucas doubled in a run and scored on Price’s single. Price eventually scored on a passed ball.
ALBANY 21, BAIRD 14
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
BAIRD 2 4 3 2 1 0 2 14/6/8
ALBANY 3 4 2 3 7 2 x 21/22/7
atbat runs hits RBI
Bartee 2b 6 5 3 1
Parrott cf 6 2 3 7
Cox ss 6 4 3 0
Lucas p 4 2 3 3
Price c 5 1 5 5
Abbate 1b 5 0 0 0
Kelly rf 5 3 3 0
Lopez lf 4 2 1 2
Barrera 3b 1 1 0 0
Chapman 2b 4 1 1 1
Totals 46 21 22 19
2B – Cox, Lucas 2. HR – Lopez. SF – Bartee. SB – Bartee 2.
IP H R ER BB SO
Lucas 7 6 14 4 12 5
WP – Lucas 2. PB – Price 5.
CROSS PLAINS 19, ALBANY 4
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 1 0 3 0 x x x 4/3/5
CROSS PLAINS 10 2 1 6 x x x 19/13/0
atbat runs hits RBI
Bartee 3b 3 0 0 0
Parrott cf 3 0 0 0
Cox ss 0 2 0 0
Lucas p 2 1 2 2
Price c 2 1 1 1
Abbate 1b 1 0 0 0
Kelly rf 1 0 0 0
Lopez rf 1 0 0 0
Chapman 2b 2 0 0 0
Totals 15 4 3 3
2B – Lucas. SB – Cox 2, Lucas, Price.
IP H R ER BB SO
Lucas 3.1 13 19 11 6 2
WP – Lucas 3. PB – Price 8. HBP – Lucas 2.
