Long ball helps Aledo beat Georgetown in 5A semis, Ladycats advance to softball final
Aledo belted two separate three-run home runs and withstood a late rally from Georgetown as the Ladycats beat the Eagles, 8-5, in a Class 5A state semifinal game on Friday at Leander Glenn High School.
Aledo (29-7) advances to the 5A championship game against Barber’s Hill (41-2), tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at McCombs Field in Austin.
Barber’s Hill shut out Hallsville, 6-0, in the other 5A semifinal.
The Ladycats, who are making their fifth appearance at the state tournament and first since 2015, led 1-0 in the first inning when Marissa Powell ripped a two-out double to right field and scored one batter later on a Madysen Boutwell blooper that landed in shallow left.
Georgetown (27-5-1), making its first trip to state, tied the game in the bottom of the first inning. Isa Torres hit a lead-off triple to left center and scored on a fielder’s choice from Madison Hartley.
Aledo stranded a pair of base runners in the second and one in the third before exploding in the fourth inning with four runs to give the Ladycats a 5-1 edge. Audrey Pearce scored on a fielder’s choice from Reagan Davis and Powell followed her with a three-run home run over the center field wall.
Aledo starting pitcher Kayleigh Smith retired the order in the second inning and got out of the third after the Eagles put two runners on in scoring position with one out.
The Ladycats tacked on three more in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 8-1 when Mississippi State commit Macy Graf blasted a three-run bomb to center.
Georgetown cut the lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the frame, first scoring on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice. Then Hartley hit a two-run triple to deep right and scored on an errant throw to third that made it a three-run game.
However, that was the closest the Eagles would get as Smith closed it out going all seven innings allowing four hits, two earned runs and striking out three batters to improve to 18-2 this season.
Aledo registered nine hits with Powell going 3 for 5 with a double and single. Graf had two hits and Pearce got on base three times.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 5:04 PM.
