El Campo's rally falls short against Foster
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley A Speedy Reaction Gabby Macias follows up a great scoop on a ground ball with a quick throw to first and an out in the second inning.

The Lady 'Birds fell in an intense game to Foster Tuesday in Richmond.

Foster held off El Campo's bats to take a lead, and held the Lady 'Birds scoreless through the first six innings. A great comeback in the top of the seventh almost changed the game's outcome.

El Campo had chances to earn runs throughout the game, but just could not come through with timely hits. The Lady 'Birds earned five base runners in the first three innings, including two in the first and third, but were unable to capitalize on their advantage.

"That's the entire difference in the game - the early innings," Head Coach Shane Wagner said. "We hit the ball the entire game, but in the early innings, we were getting runners on base and just weren't getting the timely hits and it ended up costing us this game."

Foster was able to score in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead and extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth.

The Lady Falcons' final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning on a tough defensive play. Foster moved ahead 4-0 with many of their runs coming on El Campo's fielding miscues.

"It happens," Wagner said. When you play a good team, you can't make (many) mistakes, but mistakes do happen. We'll go to practice tomorrow and we'll work on everything we need to work on and get better for the next time."

The Lady 'Birds showed great determination, however, throughout the game. In the top of the seventh, El Campo finally broke through and had a great run to challenge Foster.

Lindsey Marik and Anna Raun led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Angela Fiala followed with a ground ball up the third base line to move the runners over. Fiala was out at first, but El Campo had runners on second and third base.

Brittney Oates hit a slow roller to second base and used her speed to claim first base on a single. The next atbat brought in El Campo's first run.

Alexis Cooper hit a ground ball to left field for a single and brought in Marik to cut Foster's lead to 4-1.

With the bases still loaded, Danielle Smith gave a nice effort but struck out swinging. Emily Bergstrom followed with a nice hit.

Bergstrom connected for a short pop up into left field and sent Foster's defender scrambling toward the ball. The left fielder tried to run the play down and almost made an amazing grab. The ball bounced out of her glove and Bergstrom claimed second base while Raun and Oates both scored.

Hayley Pierce came in to run for Bergstrom at second base.

Foster was feeling the pressure as their lead was cut to 4-3 and Kristi Michaelsen came up to bat with runners on second and third base and two outs.

The first pitch to Michaelsen was a ball, but Foster's pitcher made up for it with a strike in the next pitch.

Michaelsen gave a great fight in the batter's box. She swung at the next two pitches, barely fouling them off to go down 1-2 in the count. The sixth pitch was another swing, but this time there was no contact.

Foster's crafty pitcher earned the final out of the inning and defeated El Campo 43. It was the Lady 'Birds' first district loss.

"I'm proud of the girls for the way they stuck in there," Wagner said. "I expect that from them because we've done it all year long. No matter what the deficit is or how much we're up, the girls are going to play seven innings of ball.

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"I was very proud that we got those last three runs to make it a game and make them work for it. They're a great team, but I think we are too. I think we proved tonight that we can play with anybody."

After the loss, the Lady 'Birds only had two more road games until ending the season with five consecutive games on their home field.

Wagner said Friday's match at Katy and Tuesday's game at Rosenberg are integral in reclaiming momentum before the streak of home games.

"They're very important," Wagner said. "This loss tonight does not make or break our season. Seven Lakes is going to be tough and Lamar is going to be tough competition. We're going to have to play hard every game, every inning and every pitch."

LADY 'BIRD STATS