Lady Lions show strong start to softball season
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lady Lion softball team is off to a strong start, winning three of the first four games.
Albany will play in the Stephenville tournament on Thursday through Saturday, playing two games each day.
Albany will play South Hills at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a 5:45 p.m. bout versus Krum. On Friday, the team will face Godley at 9:00 a.m. and Midway JV at 2:15 p.m., followed by a Saturday morning game at 9:00 a.m. against Eastland. Bracket play will be played later in the day based on the results of the first five rounds.
Albany is also scheduled to travel to Anson on Tuesday, March 3, for a 5:00 p.m. rematch against the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Lions played Abilene Cooper’s JV on Tuesday, Feb. 25, picking up a 7-5 win. Details will be reported next week.
The softball team is off to a good start this season, according to coach Jimmy Fuentes.
“This has been a much better start than last year,” the coach said. “We still have a big group of younger players who are sophomores this year, but they know what to expect this time.”
He said that the team is hitting well, although he is looking for more consistency throughout the line-up.
“We are playing solid defense, and Ana Balliew is doing a really good job as our only pitcher right now,” he said. “She is way ahead of last year, knowing her spots and hitting them, with our defense playing well behind her.”
The Lady Lions went 2-1 in the Eastland tournament last Saturday, losing only to the host team.
“Eastland has a really good team with the experience to go far in their division,” Fuentes said. “We played a respectable game against them.”
Albany opened the season on Feb. 18 at home, beating the Anson Lady Tigers 11-4. Balliew pitched the entire seven innings to get the win.
LADY LIONS vs anson
INDIVIDUAL STATS
A Moon 4 for 4, 2 sgl, 2 dbl, 1 run
H Cox 2 for 3, 2 sgl, 1 run
C Holson 3 for 3, 2 sgl, 1 dbl, 1 run
A Balliew 1 for 4, 1 sgl, 2 runs,
E Hebel 3 for 4, 1 dbl, 1 tpl, 1 HR, 3 runs, 3 RBIs
K Browning 2 for 4, 2 sgl, 2 runs
B Belcher 1 for 3, 1 sgl, 1 run
The Lady Lions jumped out quickly against Jim Ned in the first round of the Eastland tournament, to 10-run rule the Lady Indians with a 15-4 win.
Balliew pitched all three innings for Albany.
LADY LIONS vs Jim Ned
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 6 3 0 6 X X X 15/10/1
Jim Ned 1 1 2 x x x x 4/3/3
INDIVIDUAL STATS
A Moon 1 for 2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 runs
A Garcia 1 for 3, 1 sgl, 4 RBIs, 2 runs
H Cox 1 for 3, 1 tpl, 2 RBIs, 1 run
C Holson 2 for 2, 2 sgl, 3 RBIs, 3 runs
A Balliew 1 for 4, 1 sgl, 1 RBI
E Hebel 2 for 3, 2 sgl, 3 runs
K Browning 0 for 2, 1 run
B Belcher 2 for 2, 1 sgl, 1 dbl, 2 RBIs, 2 runs
The Lady Lions faced Merkel in the second round, winning 8-0 in five and a half innings.
Balliew pitched all six innings from the mound.
LADY LIONS vs merkel
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 3 2 2 0 1 x x 8/10/0
Merkel 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 0/6/4
INDIVIDUAL STATS
A Garcia 1 for 3, 1 tpl, 1 run
H Cox 1 for 3, 1 sgl, 1 run
C Holson 1 for 3, 1 sgl, 2 RBIs
A Balliew 2 for 4, 1 sgl, 1 dbl, 2 RBIs, 1 run
E Hebel 2 for 3, 1 sgl, 1 dbl, 2 RBIs, 1 run
K Browning 2 for 3, 2 sgl, 1 RBI, 2 runs
S Hobbs 1 for 2, 1 sgl, 1 RBI, 2 runs
The Lady Lions lost 4-2 to Eastland in six innings.
Balliew was on the mound for all five of Eastland’s at-bats.
LADY LIONS vs Eastland
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 0 0 2 0 0 0 x 2/1/1
Eastland 0 3 1 0 0 x x 4/8/0
INDIVIDUAL STATS
A Moon 1 for 3, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 1 run
K Browning 0 for 2, 1 run
