ABILENE – The District 6-4A fourth seed Brownwood Lady Lions were limited to three hits, while the District 5-4A champion and 10th-ranked Snyder Lady Tigers capitalized on a pair of four-run innings en route to an 11-1 victory in the first game of a Region I-4A softball bi-district playoff series Friday.
Games 2 and 3, if needed, of the series between Brownwood (10-13) and Snyder (26-2-1) will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday back at Cooper High School.
“I knew coming into this we were going to have to hit the ball well because Snyder is known for putting the bat on the ball, and their pitcher has been really hot,” said Lady Lions head coach Cherita Munguia. “Surprisingly enough I felt like we did that, we just hit balls right to people. We had some really solid line drives and we were robbed on some great plays by Snyder, and that can be discouraging. That can cut you off at the knees and I feel like that’s what happened today.”
Carlee Burks doubled twice and scored on an RBI ground out by Jeniffer Romero in the fifth for the lone Brownwood run, while Romero also singled for the Lady Lions against Lady Tiger pitcher Sydnee Gomez, who struck out five and walked two.
Snyder – which led 1-0 after one inning, 5-0 after three, 7-0 through four and scored its final four runs in the bottom of the fifth – chalked up eight hits off Lady Lion hurler Tynlea Wilson, who struck out four, walked five and hit a pair of batters. The Brownwood defense committed six errors behind her.
Micaela Martinez and Saleigh Hernandez led the way for Snyder with two hits and a pair of RBIs apiece, while Gomez notched a pair of RBIs on one hit. Ava Aviles finished with a hit and an RBI, Jenna Egan drove in a run, and Makayla Rangel and Faith Rosas tallied hits.
As for what the Lady Lions can do to put Friday’s result behind them, Munguia said, “What’s good for us is Tynlea gets better with time so after today’s reps we’ll go back and look at what ways we can make adjustments. As far as batters go, we just have to trust that those hits are going to fall and we’re going to hit gaps.”
