Angleton tops EC in first round
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley A Great Team, Season Chelsea Solis, Gabby Macias, Emily Bergstrom, Hayley Pierce and Brittney Oates (l-r) leave the field after falling to Angleton.

Angleton surprised El Campo Friday with a dominating performance to end the Lady 'Birds softball season in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lady Wildcats held off El Campo for a 3-0 win thanks primarily to great pitching.

Madisyn Ward, Angleton's starting pitcher, threw 13 strikeouts and held the Lady 'Birds to only two hits to grab the win.

"I'm not disappointed in the way the girls played at all tonight," El Campo Head Coach Shane Wagner said. "Angleton was the better team on the field tonight. I'm not saying they are the better team, but they were the better team tonight because they played well from pitching, to defense, to hitting. They only scored three runs and they got the hits when they needed to."

Angleton scored two runs in the second inning and another in the third to take a 3-0 lead.

Alexis Cooper came up with the first hit for El Campo in the top of the fourth on a shot to center field.

Anna Raun hit a single in the sixth inning for the Lady 'Birds' only other hit.

The only time El Campo reached second base was in the seventh inning when Danielle Smith and Lauralee Collins drew walks.

Before the game, Wagner and Angleton Coach Kevin Hurley agreed to play a onegame series instead of a best of three scenario. After the loss, Wagner said he had no regrets about playing only one game.

"Not one at all," he said. "I think they swung the bat too well and we were going to have a hard time. I think in another game or two, we may be able to do better against their pitching, but it was going to be hard to keep them down. I think our defense did a good job to keep them down to three (runs) tonight. I think a single game (series) was still the best option for us."

El Campo finished the season at 21-9.