On Tuesday night at Mark Humble Field, the Lady Tiger softball team snapped a four-game losing streak, unleashing a 15-1 whooping on Cameron in a game that lasted only five innings after the 10-run rule ended the contest early.
Head Coach Erin Palmer was excited to get the win, especially after an 8-7 loss on Friday to Franklin, a team that had been run-ruled by every District 19-3A opponent up to their contest.
“We had a pretty disappointing game on Friday,” Palmer said. “I challenged our team to do some soul searching over the weekend to help get back into focus because one of our goals every year is to make the playoffs, somthing we’ve only achieved once since I’ve been a coach.
“As a coaching staff, we really took our time developing a game plan and communicating very effectively to our players so they would know what we had in mind coming into this game. I also feel like that really brought us together as a team and brought some zest back into our game because it’s not fun having a losing streak like that. It can take the wind out of kids and it was a huge gut check going into this game with Cameron if we wanted to reach our goal of making the post-season. I enjoyed seeing the fight and their ability to come back from these past few weeks.”
The girls in gold got up early with runs in the second and six in the third which included a home run by Andrea Salazar. The Lady Tigers added another six runs in the fourth to go up 15-0 with hits by Salazar, Haven Jimenez and Hannah Rodriguez.
According to University Interscholastic League softball rules, if a team is up by at least 15 runs after four innings or 10 runs after five, the game is over. The game was close to getting called after the bottom of the fourth inning, but Cameron scored in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game going in the fifth.
RHS had a total of 16 hits against CHS pitcher Cheyenne Spiller. Autumn Montelongo was the top slugger with three hits and Ryleigh Eanes, Mariana Casarez, Salazar, Rodriguez and Jimenez each had two hits. Payton Miller, Macy Knesek and Karley Leopold all had one. Salazar also had five runs batted in.
Leopold was the winning pitcher striking out five and allowing two hits and three walks in five innings pitched.
The Lady Tigers face Lexington at home on Friday, a team they lost to on Friday, March 8, 12-2.
The girls are 3-5 right now in District 19-3A play and of their final six district games, four are on the road including games with Rogers and Troy, who were ranked seventh and 13th in the most recent Texas Girls Coaches Association poll in Class 3A.
“We’re going to have to take some games away from some really good teams at their house.”
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