Whitesboro girls close to district title

BATTIEST--Whitesboro began district play at Battiest Friday, but was unable to finish due to rain.

In the first game of the day, the Lady Bulldogs defeated Battiest, 10-6. Whitesboro began the game with three straight hits by Kelsey Branscum, Ashley Quinn and Katey Johnson, but were held scoreless. Battiest threatened in the bottom half when two Lady Panthers reached base by way of an error and a base hit with only one out.

Branscum struck out the next batter before giving up a single to load the bases, but a ground out to shortstop ended the inning. Sassy Newell beat out an infield hit to start off the second inning for Whitesboro. Taylor Johnson doubled then Ivory Detter forced an error that allowed Newell to score. Taylor Johnson scored on a single by Ashlyn McCurtain then Jayde Tidwell followed with a single to center that loaded the bases.

Detter crossed the plate on Brooke Woodall's sacrifice fly but McCurtain was thrown out trying to advance to third. A fly out ended the scoring. After a ground out, Battiest hit a ground rule double and forced an error to put runners at second and third, but two pop ups to Whitney Ward at shortstop got the Lady Bulldogs out of the inning.

Quinn and Katey Johnson hit back to back singles to begin the third. With one out Newell drew a walk to load the bases. Quinn scored the only run in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Johnson. Battiest led off their third inning with a single to center, but a grounder hit back to Branscum resulted in a 1-4-3 double play that cleared the bases. Next up was the clean up hitter for the Lady Panthers. After a strike out during her previous turn at the plate, she redeemed herself by hitting a solo home run to put her team on the scoreboard. The following batter forced an error to reach base, but was forced out at second on the next play.

McCurtain hit a shot to center for the Lady Bulldogs to begin the fourth, and reached third on a hit by Tidwell that was misplayed. Woodall forced another error that scored McCurtain, then Branscum singled to load the bases. Quinn's sac fly plated Tidwell and Woodall scored on a ground out by Katey Johnson. Ward hit a zinger that the short stop couldn't handle that allowed Branscum to cross the plate. A strike out sent the game to the bottom half of the inning.

Battiest got one runner on but could not score her as the Lady Bulldogs held an 8-1 lead going into the fifth inning. McCurtain was the only Lady Bulldog to reach base and she was left stranded as the offense stalled somewhat. The Lady Panthers got the lead off hitter on base via an error and she was moved to third following two put outs by Branscum. A double by the next batter scored the run, but that was all as the next batter flied out to Katey Johnson in left field.
Whitesboro's sixth inning began with an infield hit by Woodall. Branscum drew a walk, then Quinn and Katey Johnson both got out on long fly balls. Ward got a hit that was deep enough to score both Woodall and Branscum, but she was forced out at second on the next play.

After back-to-back singles by the Lady Panthers, they managed another run in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 10-3 game going into the final inning. Taylor Johnson drew a lead off walk but the Lady Bulldogs could not add to their lead. In their final time at bat, two Lady Panthers reached base by way of error by the Lady Bulldogs.

The clean up hitter once again did her job and cleared the bases with a three-run blast to cut into Whitesboro's lead. But it wouldn't be enough as the Lady Bulldog defense retired the next two batters to hang on for the 10-6 win.

Battiest and Eagletown faced off in game two with Eagletown coming away with the victory. The rain began to get heavy as the Whitesboro-Eagletown game got under way. After Whitesboro jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the game was suspended in the bottom of the first. Play will resume at Battiest on Monday and the tournament is expected to wrap up Monday night.