The Lady Tigers got their second win of the week defeating Lexington 9-2 at home on Friday evening, a team they were 10 run-ruled by three weeks earlier.
“I think the atmosphere of being at home is something that helped us,” said Erin Palmer, Rockdale High School softball coach. “Lexington is always a good opponent and we’ve split with them every year I’ve been a coach here.
“I knew that we were capable of beating them and we made a decision that we weren’t going to chase after bad pitches or let their pitcher intimidate us. I feel like our win against Cameron on Tuesday really helped us get into a good defensive mindset going into this game.”
RHS got up 2-0 when Karley Leopold singled on an 0-2 count with two outs scoring two runs to give Rockdale an early lead.
The Lady Eagles tied the game in the top of the third with two runs but Rockdale took the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the inning and added to it in the fourth. The Lady Tigers built an 8-2 lead with a four-run fifth inning led by hits from Tyley Arledge, Macy Knesek and Ryleigh Eanes. They held on in the final two innings and won the game 9-2, giving the Lady Tigers a 4-5 record in District 19-3A.
Rockdale was led by Leopold, who went four-for-four with four runs batted in and struck out five and allowed three hits in seven innings from the circle.
“Karley’s doing fantastic,” Palmer said. “Her shoulder isn’t bothering her anymore and now that she’s hitting she has more confidence on both sides of the ball.”
Eanes also had two hits and Andrea Salazar, Arledge and Knesek each had one hit.
This is Rockdale’s second win after taking down rival Cameron 15-1 last Tuesday and rebounding from a five game losing streak.
“It’s definitely been a team effort,” Palmer said. “We were a completely different team when we had injuries, but we’ve realized that if someone’s needing help it’s our job to help them.”
The Lady Tigers faced McGregor on the road after press time and play Little-River Academy on Friday at home at 7 p.m. Rockdale lost to the Lady Bees 7-4 on the road over spring break.
Rockdale is tied for fourth with Lexington for the final playoff spot in District 19-3A with five games left to play, including games with Rogers and Troy on the road, who are ranked sixth and 13th in the latest poll taken by the Texas Girls Coaches Association.
“We’re going to have to steal one from a tough team at their place,” Palmer said. “We also can’t taken anyone else in our district lightly.”
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