BUCS SPLIT CONFERENCE TWINBILL

Buccaneers split conference-opening doubleheader vs. Alvin

What looked to be two innocent runs scored by Alvin Community College at Hohlt Park Wednesday proved detrimental to the Blinn softball team.

While Blinn easily won Game 1 of its doubleheader against the Lady Dolphins 8-3 at Hohlt Park, the pair of runs Alvin scored in the seventh carried over to a 4-3 victory in Game 2.

“That was a big letdown to let them score those two runs,” Blinn (18-6) coach Rick Church said. “They took that momentum right into the second game and outdid us competitively.”

Alvin scored two runs in the top of the third and had a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Blinn put together some offense. Sydney Wellmann, the Bucs’ cleanup hitter, laced a double to center field that scored Delilah Pacheco and Peyton Webb to tie the game at 3.

The Lady Dolphins took back the lead with an RBI double in the top of the seventh and shut down the Bucs in the bottom half of the frame.

“We competed only two of the seven innings,” Church said. “That was disappointing.”

Though Alvin starting pitcher Monica Montelongo wasn’t dominant in the circle, Blinn wasn’t able to capitalize in hitter’s counts to get on base or drive runners home. The Bucs managed just five hits in the game.

“She threw enough off the plate and out of the zone to force weak ground balls to the infield,” Church said. “I’ve got to credit her. We didn’t make the proper adjustments at the plate.

Blinn took control of Game 1 immediately when Jaiden Rawls launched a three-run home run to left field to give the Bucs a 3-1 go-ahead.

Rawls was 2-for-4 with four RBI in the game.

“You want to compete every inning. If you score a bunch of runs the first game, you’ve got to keep the pressure on,” Church said. “We learned a lesson about being competitive today. Hopefully we grow from it.”

For more information on Blinn softball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(Story & photos courtesy: Matt Keyser, Blinn Information)