BURLESON – The Aledo Ladycats are going to Austin to compete in the Class 5A State Softball Tournament following a 12-7 win over Burleson Centennial on Thursday, May 23, to complete the sweep and capture the Region 1 Championship.
It’s the third time in four seasons for head coach Heather Myers’ program, having also gone in 2021 and 2022 and reaching the title game in 2021.
Aledo (35-3) will play at either 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. in the state semifinals on Friday, May 31, with the championship game set for Saturday, June 1 at 1 p.m. All games will be played at Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin.
Aledo held the advantage throughout, but a five-run bottom of the sixth inning by Centennial (32-9) that was capped off by a three-run homer cut the Ladycat lead to just one run, 8-7, heading into the final frame.
“I made a really bad pitch call on that three-run shot,” Myers admitted after the game. “That was my fault. I take full responsibility, 100 percent. I made a bad pitch call, she took advantage of it, and it got them right back in this game.”
As the Ladycats made their way to the dugout for the top of the seventh inning with the home crowd cheering at a fever pitch, Myers knew her team was fully capable of quieting them back down.
“Basically, what I told them was, it’s not over,” Myers recalled. “We’ve been scoring every inning, except for one, and we need to go get those runs back.”
With the seven, eight, and nine spots in the lineup coming to the plate for Aledo, Myers stressed the importances of remaining disciplined in their approach at the plate. Kennis Marx found herself in the optimal hitter’s count, 3-1, as she melted a belt-high fastball over the fence in left-center to lead off the inning.
Stepping to the plate with a little breathing room and a 9-7 lead, Taylor McKean took a couple of pitches that sailed wide of the strike zone. With the 2-0 pitch on the way, McKean crushed a deep line drive that cleared the fence in center, as the first two Ladycats went back-to-back with home runs to start the inning, quieting the home crowd in the process.
Three batters later, Delaney Rosser earned her way aboard the hard way after she was plunked by a pitch. With two outs in the inning and a runner on, Ana Flores belted the 1-1 offering to straight away center. The ball made a long arch before crashing into the scoreboard with a bang as the Aledo crowd erupted in celebration.
Holding a five-run cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Ladycats put the Lady Spartans away in order to seal their trip to the state tournament.
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