Lady Stangs get two wins before losing three at Abilene tourney

Sweetwater got out to a 2-0 start on Thursday at Abilene’s Ice Breaker softball tournament but finished 2-3 at the three-day event after losing its final three games.

Sweetwater (7-5) began the tournament with a 6-0 victory over Breckenridge behind Jenika Fuentes, and edged Ballinger 2-1 later on Thursday, but lost to Clyde 8-2 in Friday’s opener and then 2-0 to Graham prior to Saturday’s 8-4 defeat to Brownwood. It will try to end its three-game skid on Tuesday with a trip to Ballinger, and go to Greenwood’s three-day tournament Thursday.

The pitching was great in the first two games. Fuentes had a four-inning shutout vs. Breckenridge, giving up just one hit and a walk with seven strikeouts. She was equally good at bat, hitting a home run and double in three trips to the plate with two runs scored and four RBIs. It was tougher vs. Ballinger but the superb pitching of Mikayla Ashley (three hits, just one run and seven strikeouts in five innings) and two third-inning runs were enough to get the win. Shelby Dent had the big hit, a two-RBI single. Also, Rebecca Castillo was 3-for-3.

But Sweetwater finished with more errors (5) than hits (4) in its loss to Clyde on Friday. The 2-0 loss to Graham saw each team get six hits but the Lady Blues got both runs off Fuentes, despite another solid performace on the mound, with single tallies off Fuentes in the third and sixth innings.

The Lady Mustangs used a four-run fourth to narrow Brownwood’s lead to 6-4, getting a two-run single by Shelby Dent, RBI double by Mabry Weaver and an RBI single from Lauren Biera.