Lady Lions keep district tied up with big wins
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lady Lion softball team earned a pair of wins last week in Cisco and Gorman, maintaining a three-way tie for first place in district with a 4-1 record.
Albany finished the first round of district with an 11-4 win over Cisco, then started the second round with a 19-4 blowout in Gorman.
The standings in the combined District 8-2A now show Albany, Cisco, and Eula in a tie for the first place spot, even though Albany and Cisco are the only teams that will advance into the playoffs at the 2A level, both guaranteed a playoff berth regardless of record. Eula is leading Baird, Cross Plains, and Gorman in the 1A part of the district.
The schedule was open this week, but Albany picked up a non-district game against Hamlin on Tuesday. The Lady Lions won the bout 8-0. Details will be reported next week.
The win boosted the Lady Lions to a 11-9 record for the season.
The district schedule will pick up again next Tuesday in Baird. The game is set for 5:00 p.m.
Despite trailing 4-2 after two innings in Cisco, the Lady Lions scored three runs in the third and never looked back. Albany added a run in the fourth and four more in the sixth before capping the game with a run in the seventh.
Ana Balliew pitched the game for Albany, allowing four runs on eight hits over seven innings, striking out two.
“We started off the week with a big victory over Cisco which put us in a tie for first place in district,” coach Jimmy Fuentes. “It was probably our best overall performance of the season. We hit the ball really well and backed it up with some outstanding defensive play.”
He credited the team with keeping their composure while they were behind.
“The girls did a great job of hanging in and blowing the game wide open at the end,” the coach said.
lady LIONS vs cisco
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
albany 2 0 3 1 0 4 1 11/15/0
Cisco 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 4/8/1
INDIVIDUAL STATS
R Lucas 1 for 5, 1 dbl
T Fuentes 3 for 4, 2 sgls, 1 HR, 4 RBIs
K Browning 2 for 4, 2 sgls
A Holson 1 for 4, 1 sgl, 1 RBI
A Balliew 3 for 5, 1 sgl, 2 HR, 4 RBIs
H Cox 2 for 3, 2 sgls, 1 RBI
S Smith 2 for 5, 2 dbls, 1 RBI
G Price 1 for 3, 1 sgl
The Lady Lions started slower against Gorman last Friday, but rallied to hand Gorman a 19-4 loss.
“It took us a while to get going against Gorman,” Fuentes said. “The weather wasn’t ideal for an early game, and they threw their second string pitcher against us. So it took us a while to adjust to her, but we took care of the game in the end.”
Junior Ana Balliew pitched all seven innings for Albany, allowing four runs on seven hits and one walk. She struck out six at the plate.
lady LIONS vs gorman
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 2 1 5 0 4 1 6 19/18/2
Gorman 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 4/7/3
INDIVIDUAL STATS
R Lucas 2 for 3, 2 sgls, 1 RBI
B Abbate 1 for 2, 1 sgl
T Fuentes 2 for 5, 1 sgl, 1 tpl, 3 RBI
K Browning 2 for 5, 2 sgls, 3 RBIs
A Holson 3 for 5, 2 sgls, 1 dbl, 1 RBI
H Cox 3 for 5, 2 sgls, 1 dbl, 1 RBI
I Alvarez 2 for 3, 1 dbl, 1 HR, 4 RBIs
B Belcher 1 for 4, 1 dbl, 1 RBI
