New region and still the same result as the El Campo Ladybirds swept the Brazosport Lady Exporters in back-to-back games Thursday night in Palacios.
In the two games, the Ladybirds picked up 20 hits and pounded out 26 runs, overwhelming the Lady Exporters to earn the bi-district championship.
“We felt it was essential to sweep, if possible,” Ladybird coach Bill Savell said. “With the regional track meet happening (Friday and Saturday), we would have been missing (our leadoff hitter) Keona Wells. Also, you want to get the sweep (to) get some rest and head to the next round fresh.”
Savell was happy with the way the Ladybirds approached Brazosport at the plate, grinding out long at-bats in both games.
Of the Ladybirds 26 runs, 15 came in the final two innings of both games.
“We earned a lot of six-plus pitch at-bats and got (the Lady Exporters) pitchers into many more pitches than they would normally throw by working hard to extend the at-bats,” Savell said. “In game one, their pitcher threw 164 pitches, and we earned seven (walks). In game two, the pitcher threw 169 pitches and we earned 10 (walks). For the sake of comparison, our pitchers combined for only 175 pitches total in both games.”
After a 10-2 loss in game one, the Lady Exporter came out strong and battled El Campo in the second game, needing a win to force a game three.
The Lady Exporters took advantage of a couple of errors throughout the game to tie El Campo 6-6 in the fifth inning.
El Campo in the bottom half of the fifth, retook control of the game. With one out and runners on the corners, senior Ladybird Bridget Dorotik grounded out, but it was deep enough to score a run making it 7-6 El Campo. Dorotik was safe on with the fielder trying to cut down the score. The Lady Exporters came back with a strikeout, getting them an out away from anymore damage. However, Wells followed with an infield single scoring another run, giving the Ladybirds a two score lead.
With the lead, the Ladybirds had a quick 1-2-3 inning, to put the offense right back at the plate. The Ladybird bats started to catch fire, in total they batted around, sending 10 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs, ending the game with a run-rule. The final scores came on a sac fly from senior Anna Rod, which plated two runners.
Dorotik and Carlee Bubela both started a game against Brazosport and earned a win.
In game one, Bubela hit two of the Ladybirds four home runs. Her older sister Kate, and Rod grabbed the other two long bombs.
The Ladybirds in round two will meet the Cuero Lady Gobblers, in a three-game series with all games in Columbus. Game one will this upcoming Friday at 7 p.m. Game two, and three, if needed will be next Saturday, starting at noon.
The Lady Gobblers beat Banera 15-5 in the first round. Cuero is the first place team from District 28 with a 10-1 record.
Cuero last season lost in the first round of the playoffs.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.