Lady Hawks are not backing down, aiming for semifinals
COMMERCE, Texas—So far, so good. Krum’s left-handed freshman pitching sensation, Tristan Bridges, had led the Lady Cats to 31 wins and a berth in the softball regional finals against Pleasant Grove.
Like any successful pitcher, Bridges lives on the outside edge of the plate and, as a southpaw, her ball tails in on right-handed hitters.
Pleasant Grove Blake Worley liked what he saw.
“We work on going with the pitch, hitting to the opposite field, all season long. We practice hitting that outside pitch. Her pitch tails into the barrell of our girls’ bats,” he said.
So a free-swinging Pleasant Grove took Game 1 of the series
Thursday night largely because the Lady Hawks (17-6) smacked the ball all over the park. Bridges struck out just one hitter, 33 other times PG put the ball in play.
Nine of those balls fell in for hits, the final a sharp single to left by Khadijah Oritola to bring in Audrey Ashby and drop Krum to 31-5.
The eighth-ranked Hawks and No. 6 Krum resume their best-of-three series today at 2 p.m. at Texas A&M UniversityCommerce’s Cain Field. Game 3, if needed, will follow.
The winner will play in one of two state semifinals in Austin on Thursday. The winners of those games will play for a state championship on Saturday.
Madison Haltom starts in the circle for Pleasant Grove, and Brette Wacha is the catcher. Mary Kathryn Kyle will be at first base, Alli Holt at second, Kimmie Atienza at shortstop, and Faith Lipham at third. The outfield is Oritola in left, Aubrey Ashby in center and Carley Barrett in right. Kaylee Jones is the designated player.