The Aubrey Lady Chaparrals softball team concluded their home and away series with the Krum Lady Cats with a 7-5 loss at home April 11.
The game marked the third meeting between 4A Region 10 District 10’s first- and secondplace teams, with Aubrey winning the first two games, but the Lady Cats were able to claw their way to a road win in Game 3.
“I was proud of the way we battled back each time they got ahead,” Aubrey head softball coach James Ramsey said. “… Molly [Reid] pitched a pretty good game, and we had more hits tonight than we've had against Krum’s pitcher, [Addison Martindale], in the past. I was also proud of that. She's a good pitcher, but defensively, we didn't play well enough—too many mistakes.”
The two teams took turns stifling each other’s offense in the first two innings, with both squads leaving runners stranded in scoring position.
Aubrey cracked the scoreboard first after Reid sent a deep shot over the left field wall, putting the Lady Chaps up 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Lady Chaps’ lead would be short-lived, with the Lady Cats tying the score at 1 after a line drive double by shortstop Taylor Fauver drove in a run in the top of the fourth.
Fauver helped break the tie with a ground ball single at the top of the sixth that led to an error by Aubrey’s defense that allowed Krum to score and take a 2-1 lead.
The Lady Cats would add another run later in the inning, pushing their lead to 2 runs.
Aubrey responded in the bottom of the sixth inning with another solo home run shot from Reid, cutting Krum’s lead to 1.
The score was tied again after Lady Chaps’ first baseman Judah Van Rijn drove in a run with a line drive double to left field.
Krum outscored Aubrey 4-2 in the final inning and held on to take the win with the final score at 7-5.
The Lady Cats held the slight edge in the batter’s box, outhitting the Lady Chaps nine to seven, and won the pitching battle, with Martindale striking out 13 batters to Reid’s five.
Ramsey tipped his cap to the Lady Cats’ but said his team has some work to do to correct their defensive miscues.
“[Krum] had timely hits when they got runners in position there late in the game,” he said. “We had four or five errors, and we had a few more mental errors on our defense that people in the stands might not even realize, but we have to be better on defense, and we will be. We're going to work on it and get better but hats off to Krum. They had a good game tonight.”
Despite Aubrey winning their third consecutive district championship, Ramsey said the Lady Chaps still have work to do as the team gears up for the postseason.
“We have a double header to finish the season against Ranchview, so we want to come out here and play good softball and finish that off,” he said. “Then, we'll start getting prepared for Bonham, because that's who we're going to play in the first round.”
The Lady Chaps capped off their regular season in dominant fashion, steamrolling the Ranchview Lady Wolves 16-0 and 17-0 in the doubleheader Monday night.
The 24-3 Lady Chaps will return to the diamond next week for the first round of the playoffs against the Bonham Purple Warriors.
