A five-run lead had vanished for the Brownwood Lady Lions, who suddenly faced a two-run deficit in their final at-bat against the Merkel Lady Badgers Monday afternoon. But that served to set the stage for the heroics of sophomore catcher Chloe Walls.
With two runners on and facing a two-strike count, Walls – who earned Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state honors as a freshman – blistered an offering from Merkel pitcher Jose Whitehead on rope to left field, just clearing the wall for a three-run home run that propelled the Lady Lions to a 10-9 victory.
“I did not expect it at all,” Walls said of the game-winning blast. “I just saw a good pitch and drove it after seeing a change-up the last pitch. I just had to wait for my pitch. I saw a pitch that was right down the middle, right down my alley where I wanted it to be and I got my shoulders lined and drove it.”
Whitehead had retired 10 consecutive Lady Lions since a two-run home run by Adriana Romero with two outs in the bottom of the third inning staked Brownwood to a 7-2 advantage.
But in the bottom of the seventh, down 9-7 after Merkel struck for a pair of runs in the top of the frame, Mia Lopez reached on an error as a routine throw from shortstop to first base was simply dropped. Jeniffer Romero followed by slapping a bunt single down the third base line. Both runners then moved up on a wild pitch, putting themselves in scoring position for Walls – who ended the contest with one ferocious swing.
“We were in a bind there, but I realized we were going to be at the top of the lineup in the seventh inning and at that moment I knew those girls were going to find a way to come back,” said Lady Lions interim coach Cherita Munguia.
The Lady Lions jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings.
In the bottom of the first, Lopez drew walk and Jeniffer Romero reached on an infield single ahead of a two-RBI triple to right center fielder by Walls, who collected five RBI in the game.
Brownwood’s second inning saw Tynlea Wilson led off with a single, then Peyton Pena reached on a one-out error and Lopez on a dropped third strike. With two down, a grounder by Jeniffer Romero rolled under the Merkel second baseman’s glove, allowing Pena and Lopez to score to boost the lead to 5-0.
“They’re fighters, they love to jump out early and don’t get complacent, but sometimes good hitting teams will come up and try and challenge us,” Munguia said. “But they fought to the very last pitch and that’s something special about this group. We never feel worried if we’re down somewhere in the middle of the game.”
Merkel closed the gap to 5-2 in the third on an RBI bases loaded walk by Briana Scarbrough and Madee Williams then reached on a two-out error.
Brownwood pushed the lead back to five runs at 7-2 as Wilson walked with two outs ahead of Adriana Romero’s blast in the home half of the third.
Merkel crept within 7-3 in the fourth as Olivia Borredo led off with a walk and scored on Anisia Delgado’s RBI sacrifice fly.
The Lady Badgers then knotted the score at 7 in the fifth as Catherine Bennington doubled ahead of a two-run homer Williams. Eva Rodriguez and Brooklyn Fulfer then added base hits ahead of a two-out, two-RBI triple by Avery Chacon.
Merkel then forge ahead, 9-7, in the seventh as Rodriguez led off with a double and Jaedyn Lee reached on an error. Chacon then came through with another two-RBI base hit, this time a double.
“Coming off a hard loss, we knew today was important,” Munguia said. “Last year this Merkel team rarely had teams score more than two runs against them, and they’re a winning program. We had to come ready to fire from the first pitch and I feel like they did that. Going forward into the Abilene tournament this gives us a little wind under our wings to play some really solid teams and work out some kinks that still need to be worked out.”
The Lady Lions (2-1) will take part in the Abilene Icebreaker softball tournament Thursday through Saturday.
