Greenville Lady Lions hang tough before giving way to Mesquite Poteet
Apr. 13—The Greenville Lady Lions hung tough with Mesquite Poteet for five innings before the bottom fell out in the sixth inning.
Poteet scored 13 runs off a combination of seven hits, five walks, an error and a couple of mental lapses by the Lady Lions following a disputed call by the umpires.
The result was a 23-5 victory by the Lady Pirates on Friday at Monty Stratton Field in Greenville as Greenville dropped to 1-9 in district play.
The Lady Lions stayed within 4-3 in the second inning, 5-3 in the third, 7-3 in the fourth and 10-5 in the fifth before the Lady Pirates pulled away.
The disputed call was on a tag-out by Greenville catcher Madelein Lucas on a Poteet baserunner. The umpire ruled the runner was safe.
"He (the umpire) called obstruction," said Greenville coach Caitlyn Fowler. "You can't call obstruction when she's got the ball in her hand."
That call and some other things that went against the Lady Lions affected their performance in the long sixth inning.
"Their spirits are down when they've got everything going against them," said Fowler.
Greenville finished with four hits against Poteet right-hander Eleni Jensen, who struck out seven.
Avery Wilkinson drove in two runs with a single and Christa Carroll drove in another with a single in the second for the Lady Lions.
Olivia Joyce drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in one run in the fifth. Kaitlyn Whitten drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.
Taylor Thompson, Miranda Chavez and Faith Ario managed three hits apiece to lead the Poteet offense, which finished with 18 hits. Eight Lady Pirates had hits.
The Lady Lions' defense made some plays early. Lucas, the catcher, fired to third baseman Brooke Hutchings, who fired back to Lucas to pick off a Poteet runner. Hutchings and second baseman Jordan Hunnicutt produced some ground-outs.
"The defense looked pretty good," said Fowler. "We had some people in different spots. I was proud of them."
District 13-5A softball
Mesquite Poteet 311 23(13) —23 18 0
Greenville 030 020 —5 4 3
WP: Eleni Jensen, 4 hits, 5 runs, 5 ERs, 4 BBs, 7 Ks.
LP: Christa Carroll, 18 hits, 23 runs, 21 ERs, 12 BBs, 5 Ks.
Leading hitters
MP: Abby Rainwater 2-4, 2B, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Taylor Thompson 2B, 3B, 3-4, 3 runs; Alyssa Gallardo 2=5, Kyndall Fomby-Bell 1-3, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Miranda Chavez 3-3, 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs; Abigayle Lopez 2-4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Mallory Mueller 2-4, Faith Ario 3-4, 3 runs, 3 SBs.
G: Avery Wilkinson 1-4, 2 RBIs; Christa Carroll 1-4, 1 RBI; Madelein Lucas 2-3, 1 RBI.
Records: G 4-14, 1-9.
Next game: Greenville at Forney, Tuesday.
