There are a lot of ways Aledo head coach Heather Myers envisioned her team winning their first game of the playoffs against Trimble Tech. Her sophomore hurler throwing a perfect game probably wasn’t high on the list, although that’s exactly what happened as the Ladycats won in dominant fashion, 15-0, in just five innings.
Taylor McKean struck out 14 of the 15 Lady Bulldogs she faced in the opening round of postseason action on Thursday, April 27. McKean threw 62 pitches with a whopping 44 of those pitches landing for strikes.
“[McKean] is pretty dominant,” Myers said after the game. “We have three very talented pitchers and Taylor fits right in with that crew. She’s continuing to develop. She’s only a sophomore and she’s that controlled on the mound. We’re excited to see things from her the rest of this season and in the future.”
The Lady Bulldogs struggled all game to so much as make contact with the young, righthander’s fastball. By and large, opposing batters were way behind the heater in the strike zone or taking defensive cuts at pitches out of the zone.
As if the smoke wasn’t giving Trimble Tech enough problems in the box, McKean’s changeup was nastier than a sweaty gym sock. Her impeccable delivery of her off-speed pitch made it indistinguishable to hitters, leaving them to react to fastballs only to find out McKean pulled the string with her changeup.
“It was a little too high for what we normally want,” Myers commented regarding McKean’s off-speed pitch. “But it was working, so we didn’t change it.”
The lone defensive play of the game for Aledo came in the top of the fifth inning as McKean fell behind 2-0 in the count. Ashlie Aguilar hit a soft liner to second right into the waiting hands of Aledo second baseman Delaney Rosser.
Offensively, the Ladycats were aggressive early. In the bottom of the first inning Aledo sent 17 hitters to bat en route to plating 11 runs on eight hits. After scoring four more runs in the bottom of the second inning, the Ladycats began working on fundamentals at the plate with the game well in hand.
“We never want to discount anybody,” said Myers of her team’s strategy coming into the game. “We came in with a lot of intensity and then we started working on some things in the last few innings.”
Presley Hull and Texas Ray both hit doubles in those first two innings. McKean and Claire Byars legged out triples of their own to give Aledo four extra-base hits in the contest.
In total, the Ladycats amassed 17 hits strung across four innings with all nine batters recording at least one hit.
Next up for Aledo will be the winner between Burleson and Richland. Those two teams will square off on Friday and Saturday. Time, date(s) and location for the Ladycats' next game or series is to be determined.
Aledo 15, vs. Trimble Tech 0
Thursday, April 27
Trimble. 000 00X X - 0 0 5
Ladycats 1140 0XX X - 15 17 0
Aledo hitting: Addie Perry 2-for-2, 2 RBI, BB, SB; Claire Byars 2-for-3, 3B, 2 RBI, BB;
Presley Hull 3-for-4, 2B, SB, 2 RBI; Texas Ray 2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Ana Flores 2-for-3; Delaney Rosser 1-for-1, 2 BB; Taylor McKean 1-for-2, 3B, 4 RBI, BB; Maddy Jarvis 1-for-2, BB; Reagan Davis 3-for-3, RBI.
Aledo pitching: Taylor McKean 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K.
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