High school baseball/softball recap (5/27): Aledo advances to state softball tournament
Softball
Aledo 10, Lubbock Monterey 3
The Ladycats hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the top of the fourth inning to help complete the sweep in Game 2 of the Class 5A Region 1 final on Friday in Abilene.
Aledo (34-2) advances to the UIL state softball tournament next week for the second straight year and sixth time overall. The Ladycats were 5A state runner-up last season.
Aledo will play a state semifinal game at either 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. on Friday June 3 at McCombs Field in Austin.
Leading 4-0 after three, Texas Ray jacked a pitch to deep center with two outs in the fourth to give Aledo a 5-0 lead. Madysen Boutwell followed and crushed a pitch to deep left for a 6-0 lead. Presley Hull made it three straight bombs with an opposite field homer and 7-0 lead.
The Ladycats, who won 8-2 in Game 1 on Thursday, had a hot start with four runs in the top of the first inning. Macy Graf earned a lead off walk and scored on Marissa Powell’s 53rd RBI of the season. The reigning all-area offensive MVP set a career high after going for 52 RBIs last season.
Ana Flores then hit a two-run triple and scored on Claire Byars’ RBI single.
Monterey scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the fourth before Aledo added to its lead in the sixth.
Powell and Boutwell drove in a run in the seventh to give Aledo a 10-3 lead. Missouri commit Nathalie Touchet earned the win from the circle with five hits allowed and 11 strikeouts.
Lake Ridge 4, The Woodlands 3
The Eagles made program history after clinching a spot in next week’s state softball tournament for the first time.
Lake Ridge will play at 4 or 7 on Friday June 3 in Austin.
Brooklyn Morris and Avery Hoang combined to allow three runs on eight hits and struck out four as Lake Ridge ousted The Woodlands in Game 2 of the 6A Region 2 final at Baylor.
Tia Warsop opened the game with a walk and stole second before scoring on a Paris Johnson double. Johnson scored on a passed ball to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Maritza Arellano had an RBI sac fly in the second to make it 3-0.
But The Woodlands scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game at 3-3.
Maggie Miller reached base with one out in the sixth and Kassidy Chance scored on a two-base error that turned out to be the game-winning run.
Marcus 8, Americas 1 (series tied)
Rock Hill 1, Royse City 0 (Rock Hill wins series 2-0)
Baseball
Southlake Carroll 6, Coppell 0
The Dragons scored four runs in the second inning and LSU commit Griffin Herring struck out 10 in Game 2 to sweep the Class 6A Region 1 semifinal series on Friday at DBU.
Carroll advances to the regional final for the fifth straight season and will play Keller or Marcus in the next round.
Owen Proksch started the game with a walk and Ethan Mendoza followed with a single. Max Reyes hit a chopper to shortstop that got past the infield and Proksch scored.
Carroll loaded the bases in the second and Proksch drew an RBI walk. Mendoza had an RBI sac fly to extend the lead to 3-0. Reyes walked to load the bases again and Ben Tryon ripped a 0-1 pitch past second for a two-run single.
Nick Jones tripled to lead off the fifth and Tyler White singled to center to give Carroll a 6-0 lead.
Coppell broke up Herring’s no-hit bid with one out in the bottom of the fifth on a Will Boylan single to left. After a strikeout, the Cowboys got a single and walk to load the bases, but Herring worked around it with a grounder to third baseman Cole Bedwell.
Herring allowed three hits and threw 107 pitches in six innings. White finished off Coppell in the seventh.
Aledo 8, Abilene Wylie 0
Hunter Rudel threw a two-hit shutout to send the Bearcats to a sweep in the 5A Region 1 semifinals. Aledo advances to the regional final for the second straight season.
Trace Mazon hit a sac fly to drive in David Jones and Aledo led 1-0 with one out in the third. Cade Pulido hit a pinch hit RBI single to up the lead to 2-0 in the sixth.
Aledo went up 6-0 in the top of the seventh with a walk, two hit batters and a passed ball and then Ethan Jaques hit a two-run double to left.
Rudel struck out five batters.
Mansfield Legacy 9, Lubbock Cooper 1
The Broncos broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth with a pair of runs and then added four more in the fifth to win Game 1 of their 5A Region 1 semifinal series.
Game 2 is set for noon Saturday at Driggers Field at McMurry University.
Marcus 5, Keller 3
Jacob Morgan homered and the Marauders scored three in the top of the second inning to even the 6A Region 1 semifinal series with the Indians.
Game 3 is 7:30 p.m. at Denton Guyer.
Marcus pitcher Logan Boertje allowed two runs on five hits and struck out eight in five innings.
Keller’s Zach Erdman allowed three runs on five hits and struck out seven in six innings.
The Indians pulled within 3-2 in the sixth after Jackson Hill drew a four-pitch RBI walk. But Marcus was able to get a grounder during the next at-bat to leave the bases loaded.
Caden Sorrell gave the Marauders some insurance with a two-out two-run single in the top of the seventh.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 12:26 PM.