Lady Lions split district bouts
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions split two games last week to wrap up the first half of the District 8-2A softball schedule.
On Tuesday, March 29, the Lady Lions dropped a 7-6 decision to Cisco at Webb Park, then bounced back to defeat Gorman 20-1 in four innings on Friday, April 1.
Albany started the second round of district play Tuesday, April 5, with a 18-9 victory at Cross Plains. Details will be reported next week.
“I tell the girls every year, when the second half of district comes around, we just want to be better than we were the first time,” coach Jimmy Fuentes said. “I don’t care if we won by 10 or lost by one. We just want to do better in all facets of the game.”
Albany’s April 8 game at May will be rescheduled to avoid conflict with the District 10-2A track meet. Fuentes said Monday that details are still being worked out. The Lady Lions host Eula at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 12.
Against Cisco, Albany trailed 6-1 in the third inning before rallying with four runs in the third and pulling even in the fourth. The Lady Loboes scored the winning run in the seventh.
Fuentes said the seeds of the comeback were planted in the Lady Lions’ 5-4 eight inning victory at Eula on March 24, when Albany trailed by three runs with two outs in the seventh.
“We were down five against Cisco and came back again,” he said. “I’m glad our kids are showing some resilience.”
Haily Cox was 3 for 4 with a triple and an RBI against Cisco. Robin Lucas, Carissa Barrera, and Braylyn Abbate each had two hits.
“We didn’t get behind against Cisco because of mistakes or playing bad,” Fuentes said. “We were actually playing quite well; Cisco just earned everything they got. We had to start matching them at the plate and we did.”
Ana Balliew pitched a complete game, giving up four earned runs on 13 hits. She walked none and struck out three.
At Gorman, every Albany player had at least one hit, RBI, and run scored. The Lady Lions erupted for 13 runs in the first inning as five players drove in two runs in the frame.
Kam Browning and Ansleigh Garcia each finished with three RBIs. Barrera went 4 for 4, while Lucas and Gracie Price were both 3 for 4. Price had two doubles with Browning and Barrera also getting extra-base hits.
Balliew pitched two innings, giving up a run on one hit and a walk. She struck out two. Barrera worked two scoreless innings, giving up three hits while striking out three.
CISCO 7, ALBANY 6
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
Cisco 1 4 1 0 0 0 1 7/13/1
Albany 1 0 4 1 0 0 0 6/11/4
atbat runs hits RBI
Lucas ss 4 2 2 0
Cox c 4 2 3 1
Balliew p 4 0 0 0
Smith 3b 4 1 1 0
Garcia cf 3 1 1 1
Barrera 2b 4 0 2 1
Browning 1b 3 0 0 1
Abbate rf 2 0 2 1
Lopez ph 1 0 0 0
Price lf 3 0 0 0
Totals 32 6 11 5
3B – Cox. SB – Lucas.
IP H R ER BB SO
Balliew 7 13 7 4 0 3
ALBANY 20, GORMAN 1
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
Albany 13 2 0 5 x x x 20/21/0
Gorman 1 0 0 0 x x x 1/4/3
atbat runs hits RBI
Abbate rf 3 1 2 2
Balliew 2b 5 2 2 1
Barrera p 4 2 4 2
Browning 1b 3 2 1 3
Cox c 5 4 2 2
Garcia cf 4 2 2 3
Lucas ss 4 3 3 2
Price lf 4 2 3 1
Smith 3b 5 1 1 2
Lopez ph 1 1 1 1
Totals 38 20 21 19
2B – Price 2, Browning, Barrera. HBP – Browning. SB – Lucas 2, Browning.
IP H R ER BB SO
Balliew 2 1 1 0 1 2
Barrera 2 3 0 0 0 3
