Lady 'Birds fare well in tournament

The Lady 'Birds made a 3-1-1 run in their own softball tournament. Rain delayed Thursday's start to the event and only allowed for two games that day. Teams crammed in games for the remainder of the tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Overall, the Lady 'Birds had a strong showing against some of the area's tough teams.

EC vs. La Grange

El Campo got on the board first after generating a run and came through later with a big inning.

Danielle Smith led off the second inning with a walk. She worked her way to third base over the next couple at-bats and with two outs, showed the Lady Leopards why to stay focused throughout the game.

During a long at-bat, Head Coach Shane Wagner, who was standing at third base, bent over and talked to Smith. After the two exchanged words, Smith was off to home plate during the next pitch.

La Grange's catcher got caught napping and made a routine toss back to the pitcher all while Smith was running home. She slid in safely after the pitcher made a quick throw home and El Campo went up 1-0.

In the fourth inning, the Lady 'Birds extended their lead.

Alexis Cooper drew a walk to start the inning and took second in the next at-bat. With two outs, Luaralee Collins brought her home with an RBI.

Chelsea Solis came in to run for Collins and claimed an extra base during Emily Bergstrom's following at-bat which resulted in an error. Haley Pierce courtesy ran for Bergstrom and both scored on Lindsey Marik's double in the next at-bat.

La Grange scored its first run in the bottom of the fifth inning and answered with two more runs in the seventh, but it was not enough to change the outcome. El Campo won 4-3.

EC vs. Sealy

El Campo earned its firsts loss to Sealy in the Lady 'Birds' second game of the tournament.

Sealy took a 2-0 lead with runs in the first and second inning.

El Campo answered with three runs in the bottom of the second.

Collins reached base on a single and Bergstrom claimed first on a fielding error. Both runners were sent home in the fourth at-bat of the inning when Marik blasted a home run and gave El Campo a 3-2 lead.

Sealy came back with three runs in the top of the fourth inning and the Lady 'Birds fell short of a comeback in the bottom of the inning. Sealy claimed the game 5-3.

EC vs. Hallettsville

A slow start to this game turned into an eventual tie.

El Campo struck first in the top of the third after Bergstrom reached base on a walk. Marik followed her with a single and they were set to score.

Anna Raun brought the first run in on a fielder's choice and Angela Fiala batted in the second on a ground ball to the shortstop.

Hallettsville answered with a run in the bottom of the inning.

It wasn't until the sixth that El Campo claimed the lead again.

A single by Brittney Oates followed by a walk to Kristi Michaelson put two runners on base. Both came home on a fielding error to give the Lady 'Birds a 4-1 lead.

Hallettsville scored three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at the end of play.

EC vs. Flour Bluff

El Campo's third game of the tournament was an easy win.

Katlyn Urbanovsky pitched a complete game shutout and struck out seven batters while the offense earned nine runs.

The Lady 'Birds scored two in the first inning.

Raun lead off the bottom of the first with a single. Fiala followed with an RBI double to set up another score. Solis came in to run in her place and reached home plate on a center field fly ball by Cooper.

In the second inning, Collins and Bergstrom both scored on a double by Pierce. Marik hit a single to bring Pierce home for the third run.

Raven Owens scored on a pinch run for Marik after a double by Oates to put El Campo up 6-0.

The Lady 'Birds scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Solis, Cooper and Smith each scored in the inning by stealing home plate to end the game with the Lady 'Birds up 9-0.

EC vs. FB Austin

El Campo's final game ended with a 4-3 win over the Austin Lady Bulldogs.

Austin pulled ahead with a pair of runs in the third, but it only took one inning for the Lady 'Birds to claim the lead.

Four runs in the fifth inning boosted El Campo back up top.

Marik, Fiala, Oates and Smith each scored to take charge of the game and put the Lady 'Birds up 4-2.

Austin scored one more run in the seventh inning, but El Campo finished with the win in its final game of the tournament.