ABILENE – With four outs standing between the Brownwood Lady Lions and a Game 1 victory over the Levelland Loboettes in their Region I-4A softball bi-district playoff series, coach Cherita Munguia’s squad saw its narrow lead slip away.
But in the bottom of the sixth inning, the District 6-4A third seed Lady Lions displayed their resiliency by lighting up the scoreboard four times en route to a 6-2 victory over District 5-4A third seed Levelland Thursday night.
Games 2 and 3, if needed, of the series between Brownwood (11-13-1) and Levelland (24-8) are set for 5 p.m. Friday at Abilene Cooper High School, also the site of Thursday’s encounter.
“The sixth inning’s not my favorite to finally get a spark going, but they kept it simple and drove the ball up the middle, and we’ve been working on that with different swings,” Munguia said. “Their pitching is a lot different that what we saw in district so we knew it was going to take some time to adjust, even though we had the big hit from Mia Lopez early.”
Knotted at 2 when the bottom of the sixth began, Kyleigh Caperton led off with a single up the middle and Cecilia Rodriguez followed with a base hit to left. With Tynlea Wilson at the plate, Caperton advanced to third base on a passed ball, and an errant throw to the bag by the catcher allowed Caperton to score and put the Lady Lions back in front, 3-2.
Wilson then ripped a line drive off the leg of Levelland pitcher Danica Rivera, who fielded the ball and threw it away at third base, allowing Rodriguez to come home and stake Brownwood to a 4-2 lead.
After a walk by Mackenzie Welch, Jakayla Peek smacked a single up the middle that went under the center fielder’s glove, allowing Mykaela Mendoza, running for Wilson, to push the advantage to 5-2.
Peyton Pena then drilled an RBI single into center field, as Welch scored the final run of the contest.
The Lady Lions grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Lopez, the second Brownwood batter, launched a solo home run over the left field wall.
Levelland answered in the top of the second with a home run from Angelica Gonzalez to almost the exact same spot as Lopez, which knotted the score at 1.
In the third inning, Wilson – who gave up five hits, struck out five and walked – left three of her five base runners stranded and preserved a 1-all tie. Two walks and an error allowed Levelland to load the sacks with one out, but Wilson responded with a strikeout and grounder to Caperton at shortstop to escape the jam.
The Lady Lions regained a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Caperton singled with one out and scored when Wilson lined a ball directly to the Levelland second baseman that she couldn’t handle, as the Brownwood freshman infielder scored from second on the play.
“Your mindset at the plate has to be perfect, leave no doubt,” Wilson said. “You have to be confident at the plate because if you have any doubt you’ve let the pitcher win.”
Brownwood held on to its lead until the top of the sixth when again Levelland loaded the bags with one out on a walk by Rivera and two singles from Aubriana Rivas and Madalon Rico. Wilson inducer a grounder by Delylah Paradez to Caperton who threw out Rivas at the plate for the second out. Up in the count 0-2 to Delaney Delgado, an errant pitch got away from Chloe Walls behind the plate, allowing Gonzalez – who reached on a fielder’s choice – to score the tying run. With Levelland looking to take the lead, Walls retrieved the ball and tossed it Caperton, who ran down Rico for the final out, keeping the game tied at 2.
Giving up just one run despite a pair of innings in which Brownwood faced bases-loaded, one-out situations was the key to the game, according to Wilson.
“That was the difference in the game,” Wilson said. “If we didn’t get those outs there it would have been a different result. It makes a big difference when you know your team has your back. We’re real tight-knit, we all love each other and I know even if I’m struggling if I put the ball over the plate they’ve got my back.”
Munguia added, “Tynlea pitched lights out. She was hitting the corners and it was a zone she liked. She was resilient and adjusted to what the umpire was giving her, and Chloe did a great job framing up the ball behind the plate.”
Brownwood finished with seven hits – two by Caperton and one each from Lopez, Rodriguez, Peek, Pena, and Jeniffer Romero.
Thursday’s victory was the first in postseason play for Brownwood since 2019, as the Lady Lions on Friday will attempt to advance to face either District 8 champion Krum or District 7 fourth seed Gainesville in the area round next weekend.
“If we show up with the same amount of energy and fire no one can beat us,” Wilson said. “We’re strong when we play together and we’re strong when we’re hyped up.”
