After hot tourney start, LHS softball cools off
Lady Badgers finish eighth after bolting out of blocks

PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE LHS senior pitcher Kirby Crow delivers in the Lady Badgers' 5-3 win against fifth-ranked Waco Midway in the opening round of the Big Bell Classic on Thursday. The Lady Badgers opened the tournament 3-0-1 before dropping four straight games to finish eighth.

The Lampasas High School softball team closed non-district play the same way it started it - up and down.

The Lady Badgers (9-8-1) opened the Big Bell Classic in Killeen in grand fashion, going 3- 0-1 in the top-tier tournament, including wins against No. 5 Waco Midway and powerful Waco Robinson. But a 3-1 loss to Frenship on Friday afternoon was the first of four straight losses to close the tournament, sending the team to an eighth-place finish in its division.

In the opener, the Lady Badgers knocked off Robinson, 2-1.

Freshman Taylor Holloman registered the win. Freshman Marisa Bogart provided half the Lady Badgers' offensive outout on the first pitch of the game, blasting a home run. Senior Vonzella Underwood recorded the game-winning run batted in.

In Game 2, the Lady Badgers toppled Midway, 5-3, avenging a 5- 2 home loss to the Lady Panthers last Tuesday.

Senior pitcher Kirby Crow picked up the win, and Holloman belted a three-run home run. Stacey Dickens and Underwood also drove in runs.

Game 3 ended in a 1-1 tie with Euless Trinity. Dickens crossed the plate for the Lady Badgers.

Game 4 marked the opening of bracket play, and the Lady Badgers toppled Temple, 2-1.

Crow picked up her second win of the tournament, and Underwood and Holloman drove in runs. Shelby Wilson and Underwood doubled, and Holloman tripled in the game-winner in the sixth inning.

In Game 5, Frenship stopped the Lady Badgers' momentum with a 3-1 win.

Holloman took the loss, and Underwood and Kat Strickland recorded doubles.

In Game 6, Robinson avenged its loss in the opener with a 3-1 win.

The Lady Badgers registered 10 hits but failed to produce with runners in scoring position. Crow gave up a two-run homer in the fifth and took the loss.

In Game 7, Hays knocked off the Lady Badgers, 5-2. The LHS defense committed critical errors, and Holloman was saddled with the tough-luck loss.

In the seventh-place game, Gatesville handled the Lady Badgers, 7-2.

Unearned runs contributed to the loss with Crow on the mound. Underwood and Wilson both produced RBI doubles.