After generating 12 runs in their first two outings of the season, the Brownwood Lady Lions were kept off the scoreboard by the Merkel Lady Badgers in a 9-0 decision Tuesday night at Lady Lion Field
Brownwood (1-2), coming off Friday’s 8-7 loss at Llano in which it allowed the final three runs, mustered just two hits and struck out 14 times against Merkel (4-1-1) pitcher Josie Whitehead, and did not have a base runner until the fifth inning after the Lady Badgers had already opened an eight-run advantage.
“Merkel is a very good ball program and their pitcher was lights out tonight,” said Lady Lions head coach Cherita Munguia. “We have to learn to make adjustments. If my normal swing isn’t working or the normal pitch I really like to hit isn’t coming, I’ve got to find a way to poke it somewhere, but we can’t wait five or six innings to put a bat on the ball. That just can’t happen.”
The Lady Lions were also plagued by a handful of miscues in the field, though Merkel did produce 10 hits as well.
“We knew they were going to hit the ball and that’s what we need,” Munguia said. “We need to get as many reps on balls as we can. We also have to do a better job of not getting down on ourselves when we’re not doing well and letting that transition into our fielding.”
Lady Lion pitcher Tynlea Wilson struck out five, walked two and hit one but broke up Whitehead’s perfect game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth on a floater behind on the first base bag. Jakayla Peek then reached on an error, but Peek and Cadyn Christmas, running for Wilson, were left stranded at second and third base.
Maitlyn Esquivel led off the sixth for Brownwood with a single up the middle and Jeniffer Romero was hit by a pitch to put two on with one out, but again the Lady Lions failed to score.
Brownwood’s final at-bat in the seventh featured another hit batter – Peek – with two outs, but the Lady Lions were still denied a run.
Merkel scored once in the first inning, twice in the second, five times in the fifth and added its final run in the sixth.
Briana Scarborough recorded three hits while Whitehead and Jaycee Tumlinson tacked on two apiece for the Lady Badgers. Tumlinson also chalked up a pair of RBIs while Brooklyn Fulfer and Sofia Rodriguez notched one each, as they also recorded base hits.
The Lady Lions will be back in action Thursday through Saturday at the Abilene Icebreaker Tournament.
“Going forward we have to fix our communication,” Munguia said. “There were some places tonight that if we talked better, we could have kept that score a little closer. And if it’s a closer ball game you never know if we get more momentum it could start sparking some hits. It’s lot easier to hit when the score’s 3-0 versus a 9-0 score.”
