Lady Lions keep battling despite tough district
By Melinda L. Lucas
Cold and rainy weather on Friday delayed Albany’s softball action against Haskell until Monday night and forced back-to-back district games with an outing against Anson on Tuesday, April 8.
Losses to Hawley on April 1 and to Haskell puts the Lady Lions’ district record at 2-5 prior to Tuesday’s game. They are in fifth place among the six district teams.
Coach Jimmy Fuentes is not optimistic about a playoff spot, commenting Tuesday that although not impossible, it was a long shot.
Still, despite the win-loss record and the fifth place standing, he is not discouraged about program progress during the 2025 season.
“So many of our players are young, and we face a really strong district that is loaded with first-class, veteran pitchers,” Fuentes said. “But these girls haven’t stopped fighting all season, and they have made huge progress.”
Against Hawley last week, it appeared that the Lady Lions were going to be the victims of the 10-run rule, but the girls battled back, even though they eventually lost 6-13.
“Our girls had a five-run fifth inning, and threatened to take the lead,” Fuentes said. “That was really promising for the program, especially since one of the best things to come out of the season is how the new kids performed. I was really impressed with the girls who have never played before, not just in my program, but not even in youth softball.”
Fuentes also mentioned the work of senior pitcher Carisa Barrera, who has come back strong after being injured at the beginning of the district schedule when she was hit in the face by a line drive.
“Carisa had her best pitching game of the season against Haskell Monday night, maybe the best of her career,” Fuentes said.
Details about both Monday and Tuesday’s games will be reported next week, along with the regular season finale against district-leading Stamford on April 11. The Lady Bulldogs will host the game starting at 5:00 p.m.
Game Details
Pitcher Carisa Barrera faced 35 Hawley batters, giving up 11 hits and 13 runs in seven innings. She recorded nine strike-outs.
At the plate, Jayden Kelly was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. Charlee Hefner was 2 for 4 with 1 RBI, Gabby Lopez was 1 for 4 with an RBI, and Charli Trail was also 1 for 4 with an RBI.
Scoring one run each were Madi Parrott, Kelly, Hefner, Barrera, Leah Glick, and Kamryn Graham.
