The Aubrey Lady Chaps and the Eagle Mountain Lady Knights battled on Monday evening, with the Lady Chaps taking care of business and defeating the Lady Knights 115.
The Lady Knights jumped out to an early lead, but the Lady Chaps caught fire in the second inning, using a strong night in the batter’s box and on the mound to put the game away.
“We were a little shaky at times, but overall, we did a good job,” Aubrey head softball coach James Ramsey said. “Coming back off of spring break, we were a little rusty, but we shook that off pretty well and settled in. Plus, Molly [Reid] did a great job in the circle for us tonight.”
The Lady Knights drew first blood when left fielder Olivia Wilson homered to center field, driving in 2 runs and putting Eagle Mountain up 2-0 at the top of the first inning.
The Lady Knights’ lead didn’t last long because the Lady Chaps responded with a 3-run bomb of their own hit by Reid, putting Aubrey on top 3-2 in the bottom of the first inning.
Aubrey’s bat got even hotter in the second inning, with the Lady Chaps going on a 6-run scoring barrage started by a 2-RBI single from first baseman Judah Van Rijn.
The Lady Chaps kept the momentum going with a pair of triples from outfielders Addison White and Claire Rose that drove in 4 more runs, giving Aubrey a 7-run lead.
Eagle Mountain refused to go away, adding another run, but Aubrey catcher Abby Lynch-Buxton put the final nail in the Lady Knights’ coffin with a 2-run homer that put the Lady Chaps up 11-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“My goal is to work through the middle and hit the strikes that I get, and it’s been working pretty well,” Lynch-Buxton said.
The Lady Knights went on to add two more runs, but the Lady Chaps held on to win 11-5.
Reid, who celebrated her birthday the same night, also led the Chaps from the circle, striking out 9 batters and allowing 4 earned runs.
“Tonight was amazing,” Reid said. “I don’t plan on playing in college, so it’s really important to me to do well this year. I didn’t have the opportunity to pitch last year, [so] every time I do this year, I just want to come out and show my team that I can help, and my teammates always rally around me.”
The win marks the fifth in a row for the Lady Chaps, but Ramsey said the team is focused on the challenging road ahead.
“We’re coming together pretty well right now, but we know we have a long way to go,” he said. “We have some tough games ahead of us, so we’ve talked about how important it is just to keep working hard every day and trying to get better each week as we progress through the season because we know we have a tough road ahead.”
The Lady Chaps are scheduled to return to the diamond in a home and away series against the Lake Dallas Lady Eagles on Tuesday and March 28.
