Two games were not enough to determine a winner between the Thrall and McGregor softball teams.
The teams faced in a winner-take-all third game in their Class 3A-Division II best-ofthree area round playoff series at Jarrell High School. Thrall (26-9) won the series opener, 10-0, Wednesday, while McGregor (219) returned the favor Thursday with a 3-2 victory.
Friday’s result was not available at press time. The winner meets Anderson-Shiro or Nacogdoches Central Heights in the region semifinal round next week.
GAME ONE
Miley Pokorny and Addison Dickens combined for a one-hitter as the Tigerettes pounded the Lady Bulldogs, 10-0, Wednesday in Salado. The game ended in the middle of the fifth inning because of the 10-run rule.
Pokorny pitched the first four innings and struck out six batters. With the exception of an error, a hit batsman, a walk and a hit; Pokorny and Dickens were flawless in the circle.
Thrall wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Selena Qintanilla hit a leadoff single and advanced to second before scoring on a single from Reese Madsen, who scored three batters later on a fielder’s choice from Riley Luton.
The Tigerettes added three more runs in the bottom of the second. Kenzie Engelke hit a two-run single and Luton drove in another run when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to increase her team’s lead to 5-0.
Thrall capped the scoring with five runs in the bottom of the third. Adelynn Bishop hit an RBI double, Piper Hernandez hit an RBI single, Madsen hit a two-run triple and Engelke hit an RBI single to give their team a 10-0 cushion.
Engelke (2-2, BB, 3 RBI), Hernandez (2-3, RBI), Madsen (2-3, 3B, 3 RBI) and AJ Masters (2-3, 2B) led the Tigerettes at the plate. Bishop (1-2, BB, 2B, RBI), Dickens (1-2, BB), Luton (0-2, HBP, 2 RBI) and Quintanilla (1-2, BB) also contributed.
GAME TWO
Thrall could not overcome five errors in a 3-2 loss to McGregor Thursday in Jarrell. All three runs scored by the Lady Bulldogs had to do with errors.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigerettes led 2-1 with two outs and the bases loaded before an error allowed McGregor to score the tying and go-ahead runs. The Lady Bulldogs’ pitcher Corinne Sheffield retired the side in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to keep her team’s season alive.
Thrall struck first in the top of the first. Quintanilla hit a leadoff triple and scored on a Hernandez single to put the Tigerettes up 1-0.
McGregor used a single, an error and a groundout to tie the game in the bottom of the first before Thrall struck again in the top of the third. Quintanilla led off with a double before scoring on a single from Engelke three batters later.
Masters (2-3) and Quintanilla (2-3, 2B, 3B) led the Tigerettes at the plate. Engelke (1-3, RBI) and Hernandez (1-3, RBI) also contributed.
Hutto’s M’Kayla Hicks makes contact with a ball during a postseason matchup versus San Antionio Clark on Thursday, April 30.
Photo by Larry Pelchat
