Seguin softball’s playoff hopes take a hit in road loss to Boerne-Champion
(Boerne) – Seguin has no margin for error in the District 26-5A playoff race after a nail-biting 4-3 road loss to Boerne-Champion on Thursday evening.
The loss drops the Matadors to 8-6 in district play, 17-11 overall. Kerrville-Tivy upset New Braunfels-Canyon 7-3 on Thursday, so the Antlers and Boerne-Champion are tied for the fourth and final playoff seed with identical 9-5 district records, and they both lead Seguin by one game with two left on the schedule.
The Matadors face a must-win game at home against Dripping Springs on Tuesday to stay mathematically alive in the playoff race. A seventh district loss would guarantee that Dripping Springs, Buda-Johnson, Canyon, and the winner of Tuesday’s Champion – Tivy game would all finish ahead of Seguin in the final standings.
Champion’s Krista Tarver singled in Jaycee Benedele for the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on Thursday. Bendelee and Ashley Ottmers reached base on a misplayed ground ball and a dropped fly ball, Riley Murrish moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt, Seguin intentionally walked Gabi Vela, and Tarver came through with a line drive to left field.
“Dropping a fly ball in the outfield here and there, that will come back to haunt you big time,” Seguin head coach John Garcia said. “Those are outs waiting to happen, and you’ve got to execute on that. It’s that old saying, the right place at the right time kind of thing, and that’s what the ball did for them, and not for us, and we just kind of let that get away.”
Ottmers doubled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and scored Champion’s first run on a single by Vela. Ottmers started the third with a triple and came home on a Murrish single to put the Chargers in front 2-0.
Seguin responded with a pair of runs in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Vanessa Sanchez walked, and Chloe Belicek drove her in with a double. Camryn Rios followed with a double to score Belicek.
Ottmers singled in Madison Hall to put Champion back in front 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Rios connected for a base hit with two outs in the top of the sixth and sprinted home to tie the game on Graylyn Salazar’s RBI double.
Seguin had runners at first and second with two outs after consecutive walks by Layla Salazar and Sanchez in the top of the seventh, but Champion pitcher Carmen Vela induced a fly ball to left field from Belicek for the final out.
Vela struck out 10 Matadors on the night. Belicek, Rios, and Graylyn Salazar collected two hits apiece against her, but the rest of the lineup went a combined 1-18 with nine strikeouts. Ashlie Aguilar’s single in the fifth inning was Seguin’s only other hit.
Garcia credited Vela for keeping his hitters off balance.
“We thought we had a good plan going into it, but we just didn’t really execute it like we needed to,” the coach said. “We looked at some film again, and we’ve been really good at doing that, and following up on that, and we just kind of didn’t execute on some of the changes she was making and things she was doing.”
Kendall Hurt worked a complete game in the pitcher’s circle for Seguin, giving up four runs (three earned) in seven innings.
The Matadors look to avenge a 5-0 loss to Dripping Springs from March 22 this Tuesday when they host the Tigers at 7 p.m. Dripping Springs (21-9) stands alone in first place with a 12-2 district record.
“We’ve got to keep them off the bases,” Garcia said. “They’ve got a lot of speed when they get on the bases, and the wreak a lot of havoc. If we can do that, and if we can put the bat on the ball, put it in play, and hopefully force them to make some mistakes, we can have a chance.”
Seguin baseball falls to Buda-Johnson
(Buda) – The Matadors came up short to Buda-Johnson 12-1 Thursday night in District 26-5A on the Jaguars’ home field.
Kayden Holz drove in Eduardo Vela for Seguin’s only run.
The Matadors (7-16, 1-11) host New Braunfels-Canyon on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
La Vernia hands Navarro softball first district loss
(Geronimo) – Navarro suffered its first loss of the District 27-4A softball slate Thursday night as La Vernia edged the Panthers 7-5 in Geronimo.
Sydni Stevens and Laylin Sturn each hit home runs for Navarro, with each player recording two hits and two runs scored. Sturm drove in two runs on the night.
Kaislynn Tovar went 3-4 with an RBI. Samantha Wegman drove in a run. Sarah Howard doubled and scored once.
The loss drops Navarro to 3-1 in district play, 18-7 overall. The Panthers host Cuero on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Navarro baseball drops road game to Cuero
(Cuero) – The Gobblers salvaged a split in the two-game District 27-4A baseball series against Navarro on Thursday with a 7-4 home win over the Panthers.
Kaden Monkerud, Jacob Frederick, and Gavin Newborg each drove in a run for Navarro. Newborg went 2-2 at the plate.
Will Boswell delivered a base hit and two runs scored.
Cuero scored six unearned runs against the Panthers’ starting pitcher Bryce Nall with help from six Navarro errors. Nall struck out four and walked two in 3-2/3 innings.
The Panthers (15-9, 1-1) look to bounce back Tuesday night in a 7 p.m. home game against Gonzales.
Marion baseball outlasts Pearsall in 19th straight win
(Marion) – Pearsall threatened to hand Marion its first loss of the 2022 baseball season in a tight non-district battle on Thursday, but the Bulldogs survived 4-3 to push their unblemished record to 19-0.
Zach Halter singled in Kallen Bek for the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Ryken Autry worked around a hit batter to keep Pearsall scoreless and earn the win in the top of the seventh, his third inning of relief work on the night.
Halter went 2-3 at the palte. Bek notched a base hit, two runs, and an RBI. Cameron Baumann singled and scored once.
Bryce Gonyer pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Marion (19-0, 8-0) resumes district play on Tuesday and looks to take a big step toward clinching the 26-3A title with a home win over Stockdale. The Brahmas are 8-1 in district and just a half-game back of the Bulldogs in the standings.
Tuesday’s first pitch is slated for 7 p.m.
Marion softball pulls away from Randolph for run-rule win
(Marion) – Marion softball avenged an earlier District 26-3A loss with ferocity Thursday night, plating 10 runs in the fourth inning to dispatch Randolph 16-1 on the Bulldogs’ home field.
Jaslyne Williams led Marion at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle. The senior went 2-2 with a home run, three RBIs, and four runs scored to pace the offensive barrage. She tossed a three-hitter and struck out six to earn the win.
Breyana Gonzales and Carlie Alvarado each delivered two hits and three RBIs, and Gonzales scored twice.
Alyssa Robles went 3-3, scored three runs, and drove in two. Greenlee Trevino, Juliana Loyola, Gianna Ricarte, and Alexa Ortiz each drove in a run. Ortiz and Ricarte clubbed two hits apiece, and Ortiz scored twice.
The Bulldogs are 5-3 in district play, 9-19-1 overall. Marion is part of a three-way tie with Luling and Stockdale for second place in the district standings, one game back of first-place Nixon-Smiley (6-2) with two games left in the regular season.
The district championship is still within reach for the Marion, and the order of playoff seeding is still very much up in the air heading into the final week.
The Bulldogs hit the road to face Stockdale on Tuesday at 6 p.m., and close out the district slate Friday with a 7 p.m. home game against Nixon-Smiley.