Atascocita completes sweep of Dawson
Williams’ clutch pitching propels team to Region III quarterfinals
PEARLAND — Dawson pitcher Courtney Day ripped a solo home run off Atascocita’s Tierrah Williams in the first inning.
It was a potentially crushing blow, but Williams never wavered.
She simply went back to work, striking out 11 batters, and Sarah Cedillo’s runscoring double in the sixth lifted visiting Atascocita to a 4-3 victory and Class 6A area-round playoff series sweep Saturday.
“In this game, especially being in the Houston area, we’re going to give up home runs,” Atascocita coach Ashley Boyd said. “I’d rather it be early in the game like that and give us plenty of time to respond, but (Williams) did an awesome job. She’s never one to really get rattled.
“She’s going to go at you with her best stuff every day.” Timely double by Neal
Williams tossed a shutout in Atascocita’s 5-0 win in Game 1 on Friday at home.
She gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits in Game 2 but stayed in control by handcuffing Dawson’s key bats. Leadoff hitter Brooke Toler and cleanup Kyra Lunford went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts.
Williams retired 10 straight early and walked no one on 97 pitches.
“It wasn’t an easy game, but it means a lot to us,” she said. “Now we can push forward and move to the next round.”
Atascocita (26-2) took the lead on Kimber Neal’s tworun double in the third. The Eagles sent nine batters to the plate in the inning, when they had five of their nine hits, and Lillian Grotenhuis added a run-scoring single.
“I like the big innings like that but … I wish we were spreading it out a little more, putting crooked numbers up a couple innings, instead of depending on that one big inning,” Boyd said. “But I’m proud of them.
“Different kids are coming up clutch for us every game.” A will to win
Dawson (16-12) rallied to tie it 3-3 in the fifth on Alexis Zarate’s two-run double, but Atascocita answered in the sixth.
Grotenhuis walked, took second on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on Cedillo’s double.
“I saw a team that wanted to win,” Boyd said. “We were fighting, (Williams) finally got some pitches to hit and she did a great job, Kimber came up with a clutch hit behind her, and Lilly Grotenhuis had great at-bats. This was a team win right here. No one person got the job done. We found ways to get on base and found ways to score.”
Atascocita, which won Region II last year, will face Pasadena Memorial in the Region III quarterfinals next week.
“We have high expectations,” Boyd said. “The girls put it on themselves and we hold them to it.”