Roewe's big day sparks Haskell past McCamey, into region softball quarterfinals

LAMESA – Emma Roewe went hitless in Haskell’s postseason opener last week, an 8-6 win over Cisco in eight innings in a one-game playoff.

The senior more than made up for it Friday in another winner-take-all game.

Roewe’s two-run home run snapped a 7-7 tie in the fourth inning, and she went 4-for-5 with five RBIs as the Maidens blasted McCamey 17-7 in six innings in the Region I-2A one-game area playoff.

“I did awful last game, but I had more confidence today, and I knew I needed to hit for us to win,” Roewe said. “So, I tried to do that.”

Roewe tripled in a run and scored for a 2-0 Haskell lead in the first inning, and her two-run single sparked a five-run fifth. Yet it was the go-ahead homer that really got the Maidens rolling.

“We finally came alive in the dugout a little bit,” Haskell coach Toby Allen said about Roewe’s homer. “They started bringing a little bit of energy and we fed off it. We had been waiting for something big to happen there. We let them hang around with us and we finally got a big hit to get us going.”

Roewe got plenty of help from her teammates.

Olivia Camacho had two hits, including a double, and three RBIs, while Laney Hanson went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs. She had a double and triple. Alyssa Stocks went 3-for-4, including two doubles, and drove in a run while scoring twice. Mia Williams (2-for-4, double, two RBIs), Savanna Camacho (3-for-4, RBI, run) and Harley Medford (2-for-4, two runs) also contributed to the Maidens’ 21-hit effort.

Nyla Baeza led McCamey with four hits and three RBIs, and Piper Day had three hits, an RBI and a run. The Lady Badgers had 13 hits.

“All credit to McCamey,” Allen said. “They came out ready to play. They put the ball in play. We hadn’t seen anyone hit the ball like that against in quite a while.”

Williams won the game in relief of starter Savanna Camacho. After giving up three runs in the third inning, Williams settled down to throw three scoreless innings. She gave up six hits, struck out five and walked two in four innings.

“She’s been the one that’s pitched the most of our innings this year,” Allen said of Williams. “Savanna, the one I started, she pitched all eight innings of our extra-inning win last week. Did a great job. So, did Mia today.”

Savanna Camacho allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings. She struck out one and walked one.

Dallas Jaramillo went the distance for McCamey, giving up 17 runs on 21 hits. She struck out seven and walked none.

After Haskell scored two runs in the first inning, McCamey scored four in the second inning. The lead didn’t last long. Haskell scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh, before McCamey tied the game with a three-run third.

It stayed that way until Roewe’s blast to center field. Hanson tripled in a run and scored in the fifth, before Haskell ended the game with a six-run sixth. Roewe ended it with an RBI single.

“She did a good job,” Allen said of Roewe. “She was 0-for-4 last week. Played a great game in the outfield on defense, but she was due for a big game this week. She did a great job of seeing the ball and picking out the pitches she wanted.”

Haskell advances to play defending state champion Stamford in the region quarterfinals next week.

Stamford beat Haskell twice in district play this season – 15-0 in three innings in the first meeting April 1 in Stamford and 9-0 on April 22 in Haskell.

Stamford won the District 7-2A title, while Haskell was fourth. The Maidens have two hits off Stamford ace Citlaly Gutierrez, a University of Texas signee, this season.

“Citlaly does a great job of throwing strikes and really battling, pressing batters to put the ball in play,” Allen said.

While the Maidens face a daunting task next week, Allen hopes they enjoy getting to play another week.

“I keep telling the girls every day in practice that we’re living on borrowed time right now,” Allen said. “Every practice we get is extra lives for us. We’ve got to keep making things happen every week.”

Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.