Lady Eagles beat A-G in seeding game

• Bella Romero (2) takes a big cut off of a pitch during the Lady Eagles' game against Alba-Golden Tuesday. Romero batted 2/4, scored a run, and recorded an RBI in the Lady Eagles' 10-5 victory, helping the Lady Eagles clinch the top seed in District 17-2A for the playoffs. Photo by DJ Spencer

C-P clinches top seed in district

LONE OAK — The No. 3 Como-Pickton Lady Eagles earned the top seed in District 17-2A Tuesday by defeating the Alba- Golden Lady Panthers 10-5 in a playoff seeding game. After a close first inning, the Lady Eagles caught fire in the second inning and held off the Lady Panthers late, earning the No. 1 seed in the district.

The Lady Eagles stepped up to the plate first. The game started with Bella Romero striking out. Soon after, Gracie Thompson walked.

After Lexie Rainey struck out, another runner was gained when Addi Monk walked. The bases then loaded up after Saylor Smith was walked.

On the next at-bat, Sarah Corley reached base on an error, and both Thompson and Monk scored, giving the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead. Their turn would then come to an end when Paisley Watkins lined out.

The Lady Panthers came to the plate next, facing Rainey in the circle. Their turn began with a walk. Soon after, a single, followed by a string of errors, led to two runs, tying the score at 2-2.

From there, a pair of strikeouts and a pop out brought the first inning to a close, with the score knotted up at 2-2.

The second inning started with Journey Brumley being walked. This was followed by Sanay Diaz striking out.

Romero then hit an RBI double, bringing Brumley home and giving the Lady Eagles a 3-2 lead. From there, Thompson was hit by a pitch, and then the bases loaded when Rainey grounded into a fielder’s choice, where no outs occurred.

Romero then scored a run on an obstruction call, extending the Lady Eagles’ lead to 4-2. The bases would load up again when Monk was intentionally walked.

Smith was walked next, bringing Thompson home and raising the score to 5-2. On the next at-bat, Corley swatted a 3-RBI triple, bringing Aubrey Martinez, who was pinch running for Rainey, Monk, and Smith home, increasing the Lady Eagles’ lead to 8-2.

Watkins then grounded into a fielder’s choice, but no outs occurred, and Corley scored, bringing the score to 9-2. After that, the Lady Eagles’ turn ended when both Brumley and Diaz struck out.

The bottom of the second inning started with a ground out. Following a single, a ground out and a strikeout closed out the second inning, with the Lady Eagles leading 9-2.

The Lady Eagles went down in order to start the third inning, as Romero hit a pop fly ball for an out, Thompson grounded out, and Rainey hit a pop fly ball for an out.

The bottom of the third inning started with a walk. From there, three straight outs followed on a pair of line outs and a strikeout, ending the third inning, with Como-Pickton still leading 9-2.

The Lady Eagles were retired in order again to start the fourth inning after both Monk and Smith grounded out, and Corley hit a pop fly ball for an out.

The bottom of the fourth inning began with a strikeout. After an error, another out occurred on a fly out.

This was followed by an RBI double, bringing home a run and trimming the score to 9-3. A ground out followed, ending the fourth inning.

The fifth inning kicked off with Watkins striking out. After Brumley was hit by a pitch, Diaz hit a sacrifice bunt to move Burnley to second base. Though another runner was gained when Romero walked, their turn ended when Thompson hit a fly ball for an out.

The bottom of the fifth inning kicked off with a double and a single. Following a ground out, an RBI single brought home a run, as the Lady Panthers cut the score to 9-4. From there, a ground out and a strikeout ended the fifth inning, with the Lady Eagles still on top.

The sixth inning started with Rainey striking out and Monk hitting a fly ball for an out. After a runner was gained when Smith was hit by a pitch, their turn ended when Corley hit a pop fly ball for an out.

The bottom of the sixth inning kicked off with a double. Soon after, an error brought home another run, as the Lady Panthers trimmed the score to 9-5.

Following a strikeout, the next batter was intentionally walked. From there, consecutive ground outs closed out the sixth inning, with the Lady Eagles leading 9-5.

The seventh inning started with the Lady Eagles gaining a pair of runners when both Watkins and Brumley walked. Two outs followed when Diaz popped into a double play, where Brumley was out at first base for failing to tag up.

Following a single by Romero, Watkins scored a run, bringing the score to 10-5. After Thompson walked, Rainey grounded into a fielder’s choice, where Romero was tagged out at third base, ending their turn.

The Lady Panthers were retired in order during the bottom of the seventh inning after a pair of pop outs and a ground out, as the Lady Eagles polished off a 10-5 victory.

As a team, the Lady Eagles batted 3 for 25 (.120) from the plate. Romero led with two hits, while Corley added one.

Monk and Thompson shared the title of leading scorer with two runs each. Brumley, Corley, Martinez, Romero, Smith, and Watkins added one run each.

Rainey earned the victory in the circle. Across seven inning, she struck out six batters, allowing only seven hits, five runs (one earned), and three walks.

With the win, the Lady Eagles improved to 29-3 on the season, and earned the top seed in District 172A going into the playoffs.

The Lady Eagles took on the Linden-Kildare Lady Tigers in the Bi-District round. Coverage of the Lady Eagles’ playoff run will be published in upcoming editions of the News-Telegram.