BUCS SPLIT GAMES AT NATIONAL PREVIEW TOURNAMENT
As the games at the National Preview Tournament went along, the Blinn College softball team knew its competition would get tougher.
So the Buccaneers followed suit.
After running into a wall against second-ranked Northwest Florida State College on Saturday, Blinn regrouped and put forth a pair of hard-fought performances against two highly ranked opponents Sunday, and the results were a tight 3-1 loss to 11th-ranked Chattanooga State Community College and an impressive 4-1 extra-innings victory over No. 3 Wallace State Community College-Hanceville.
"We had a sluggish start and couldn't quite execute against Chattanooga State in game one," Bucs head coach Rick Church said. "Then Peyton Welker threw a heck of a game with eight quality innings in game two against a good hitting Wallace State team, and we had a couple players come through in big spots to help us get a huge win. It was great to finish a tough tournament at 4-2."
Blinn (11-7-1) faced three unranked opponents in its first three games of the Preview on Friday and Saturday and won all three. The Bucs then fell to Northwest Florida State 9-1 to end Saturday before rebounding with Sunday's inspiring effort.
Against Chattanooga State, freshman pitcher Bella De Los Santos rebounded from a three-run first inning to toss five consecutive scoreless frames. In total, she allowed two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
The Blinn offense out-hit the Tigers 9-6, with freshman Haley Hughes leading the way with a 3-for-3 ballgame. Hughes also stole three bases. Freshman Bailey Boetjer had two hits.
The Bucs got on the board in the fifth frame when freshman Kayden Harms hit a pop fly to the shortstop that fell in for a single. Hughes scored on the play.
Game two produced a different result for Blinn behind a gutsy start from sophomore pitcher Peyton Welker.
Welker tossed 94 pitches (63 for strikes) against Wallace State during eight innings of three-hit ball and allowed just one earned run en route to her sixth victory of the season. She struck out five hitters and walked two.
A strong pitching performance from the Lions left both teams tied 1-1 after seven innings of play.
Freshman Darian DeLeon scored Hughes on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning before Wallace State responded with an RBI groundout in the sixth.
Both teams opted to keep their starting pitchers in the circle for the eighth frame, and it was Lions hurler Lily Boswell who flinched first.
Per extra-inning rules, a runner began the inning on second base in the form of freshman T'Era Garrett. Garrett would steal third base before fellow freshman and leadoff hitter Bailey Boetjer was hit by a pitch. Sophomore Ripley Welker then singled to center field to score Garrett.
Harms laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third base and freshman Grace Bracken smacked a two-run ground-ball single to center to make it 4-1.
Peyton Welker returned to the circle in the bottom of the inning, and after allowing a leadoff single to put runners on the corners, she induced a popout and two flyouts to end the game.
The Bucs recorded eight hits, including two each for Hughes and sophomore Alayna Calvillo. Hughes tripled for Blinn.
The Bucs will have an extended layoff ahead of the Region XIV Crossover Tournament, which begins Friday, March 8, in Mesquite, Texas. Blinn faces Tyler Junior College (11 a.m.) and Trinity Valley Community College (1:30 p.m.) on day one before battling Paris Junior College (11 a.m.) and No. 18 Bossier Parish (4 p.m.) on Saturday, March 9.
(Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information)