The Aledo Ladycats ran away with the District 5-5A title once again as they closed out the 2024 season unblemished in District 5-5A play.
A combination of stalwart pitching and discipline at the plate has been the recipe for success all season. The district finale on Friday, April 19, against Granbury was no different, as the Ladycats dropped the Lady Pirates, 10-0.
After mowing down Brewer the week before, Texas Tech commit Brenlee Gonzales picked up where she left off against Granbury. The southpaw hurler pitched a complete-game shutout. The Lady Pirates managed just one hit against her.
Gonzales pounded the zone, challenging hitter after hitter, who came up empty. She retired 15 of the 18 outs she was responsible for by way of strikeout in the last district outing of her high school career.
Not satisfied to just dominate in the circle, Gonzales brought the same energy to the plate. Her 2-for-3 night at the plate was capped off by a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth inning that lifted the Ladycats to a 3-0 lead to that point in the game.
Gonzales’ homer in the home half of the fourth spurred the scoring rally that led the Ladycats to the early finish. Two batters later, Kennis Marx singled up the middle to give Aledo a two-out baserunner.
Austyn Marriage came on as the pinch runner with Jordan Edington striding to the plate. Edington earned a trip to first the hard way as she was hit by the 3-2 offering to put runners at first and second.
Addie Perry came up to bat with two outs as the lineup turned over. She hit a fly ball to left field for what routinely would’ve been the final out of the inning. However, a fielding error not only put Perry on base, but allowed Marriage to score from second.
With two outs and her team leading 4-0, Delaney Rosser picked up her second base hit of the game as Edington came around to score.
Aledo scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth, as Marina Taveras, Kyleigh Pawlak, and Grace Heath all plated runs in the inning. An inning later, the Ladycats were able to close out the contest as Rosser and Flores scored on a hard hit double to right field.
In the regular-season finale, the Ladycats dropped an extra-inning affair to Forney 1-0 on Monday, April 22. Gonzales pitched 7.2 innings for Aledo, giving up five hits and just one run in the top of the eighth before being replaced by Taylor McKean.
The District 14-5A champion Lady Jackrabbits got the better of the pitching duel, surrendering no runs on just three hits in eight innings.
While the Ladycats only managed three hits against Forney, all three went for extra bases. Gonzales and Taveras each hit a double. Flores hit a two-out triple in the bottom of the first inning to give the home team an early opportunity to score. Unfortunately, it ended up being their best opportunity to score.
The Ladycats began their postseason journey at press time on Thursday, April 25, with a best-of-three series against Everman. The first two games were being at Aledo on Thursday. If necessary, Game 3 will take place in Everman on Friday, April 26 at 5 p.m.
Aledo vs. Granbury – Fri, April 19
R H E
Granbury 000 000 X - 0 1 1
Ladycats 200 332 X - 10 14 1
Aledo hitting: Delaney Rosser 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI; Ana Flores 1-for-3, BB, SB, R; Marina Taveras 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R; Kyleigh Pawlak 3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R; Brenlee Gonzales 2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R; Kennis Marx 3-for-3, 3B, 2 RBI; Jordan Edington HBP, R.
Aledo pitching: Brenlee Gonzales 6 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 15 K.
Aledo vs. Forney – Sat, April 20
R H E
Forney 000 000 01 - 1 5 1
Ladycats 000 000 00 - 0 3 0
Aledo hitting: Ana Flores 1-for-3, 3B; Marina Taveras 1-for-3, 2B; Brenlee Gonzales 1-for-3, 2B.
Aledo pitching: Brenlee Gonzales 7.2 IP, 5 H, R (earned), 2 BB, 10 K; Taylor McKean 0.1 IP.
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