With a District 14-6A softball title on the line, both Bryan and Cypress Ranch starting pitchers pitched gems, but Cy-Ranch held on for the 1-0 win Tuesday night at Lady Viking Field to force a tie atop the district standings with one game remaining.
The Lady Mustangs scored the game’s only run when catcher Gabi Lopez worked a bases-loaded walk to drive in pitcher Britton Rogers, who reached on an error to lead off the game. Cy-Ranch loaded the bases with no outs in the inning, but Bryan sophomore starter Jessica Adams allowed just the one run, retiring the side with a pair of pop-ups after Lopez’s walk.
Adams worked a nine-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the first, walking and advancing to second on senior catcher Brenda Sanchez’s sacrifice bunt, but Rogers found her groove to strand Adams at second. The Georgia recruit used a riseball to strike out 10 consecutive Lady Viking hitters over a stretch from the second to the fifth innings. Rogers struck out 14 overall and allowed just one hit, walking three and hitting a batter.
Adams allowed an unearned run on five hits with 12 strikeouts and three walks.
“We were really chasing [the riseball],” Bryan head coach Enrique Luna said. “Then we kind of settled down and really started putting the ball in play toward the end. I thought [Briann Pendergraff’s] bunt was going to give us a spark offensively. We couldn’t quite get the job done, but our kids kept fighting. I’m proud of them. That’s what I told them. They battled until that last ground ball, and that’s all I can ask.”
Bryan had its best chance to score after Rogers’ 10th straight strikeout in the fifth when Pendergraff laid down a bunt for a one-out single and darted to third on a throwing error. After another strikeout, freshman second baseman Kylie Hernandez walked and took second uncontested, but Rogers got out of the jam with a groundout to short.
Pendergraff, a senior center fielder, also made an excellent diving catch for the second out in the top of the sixth, and senior left fielder Brianna Garcia had a nice over-the-shoulder catch for the final out in the second.
“She’s got really good speed, and we were going to try to take advantage of that,” Luna said of Pendergraff’s bunt. “That first at-bat, she struggled a little bit with that riseball. We were just trying to find a spark, and we darn near got it. I told her we had two outs, two strikes, we’re about to steal home plate just to try to tie this thing up.”
Bryan now has a crucial game on the road against Cypress Woods at 7 p.m. Thursday. A win would assure the Lady Vikings a share of the district title with the Lady Mustangs, who close out the regular season against Tomball Memorial. If Bryan loses, the Lady Vikings could finish in a tie for second with Bridgeland if the Lady Bears beat Cypress Park on Thursday.
Cypress Ranch 1, Bryan 0
Cy-Ranch 100 000 0 — 1
Bryan 000 000 0 — 0
Britton Rogers and Gabi Lopez; Jessica Adams and Brenda Sanchez.
W — Rogers. L — Adams.
Leading hitters: CY-RANCH (1... Click here to read full article
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