WOW!
Lampasas 1, Pflugerville Hendrickson 0
Lady Badgers use small ball to scrape by Lady Hawks
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Lady Badger third baseman Vonzella Underwood looks to the umpire for the call after the second out in the seventh inning of LHS' 1-0 win against Hendrickson. Underwood successfully applied the tag after catcher Marisa Bogart's throw, which was set up by a throw WOW! from right fielder Shelby Wilson.

Last Thursday, the Lady Badgers couldn't buy a break in a 5-3 loss at Pflugerville Connally.

Tuesday night, in front of a raucous home crowd, they couldn't have sold one.

In what was, without a doubt, the Lady Badgers' strongest exhibition of execution this season, they held off Pflugerville Hendrickson, 1-0, to pull within a game of the Lady Hawks (4-3) and Marble Falls for third place in District 25-4A.

"This team never ceases to amaze me," LHS head coach Chris Gaffney said. "They have fun, and they fight."

LHS (12-13-1 overall, 3-4 in district) is scheduled to play at secondplace Cedar Park Vista Ridge (6-1) at 7 p.m. today. Vista Ridge beat Lampasas 11-1 to open district play.

LHS senior pitcher Kirby Crow stranded eight Lady Hawks on base in Tuesday's shutout. Crow, who struck out seven and walked zero, improved her record to 7-8 and pulled her team within one game of third place in District 25-4A.

In the loss to Connally, the Lady Badgers scalded a half-dozen line drives right at Lady Cougar fielders and risked falling out of the district race with potentially dominant Carrollin Hall scheduled to toe the rubber for Hendrickson on Tuesday.

"This group has an amazing ability to never let negative things carry over to the next game," the coach said. "After practice (on Monday), I talked to the girls about the Connally game and the reasons we lost. I told the ladies to flush it -- to forget about it. They have an amazing ability to do that."

That's what they did.

The Lady Badgers played near flawless softball -- perhaps forcing fate's hand on this night. The only error was committed by pitcher Kirby Crow in the bottom of the seventh, but her defense and the same softball gods who shined on Connally last week came to her aid.

With one out, Lady Hawks on first and second and the Lady Badgers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Hendrickson shortstop AJ Baggerly smacked a base hit to right field. Shelby Wilson scooped the ball clean and rifled an accurate throw to the plate. The throw had runner Ellie Guerra beaten by about 25 feet, so she stopped and tried to return to third. Freshman catcher Marisa Bogart received Wilson's throw cleanly and whipped the ball to third baseman Vonzella Underwood for out No. 2.

With two outs and runners on first and second, center fielder Victoria Santos hit a line drive toward the hole between first and second, but Baggerly was running on contact with two outs and never saw the ball, which hit her in the side for the final out.

Crow, who improved to 7-8 on the year, allowed eight hits on the night, but sparkling defense and seven timely strikeouts left eight Lady Hawks stranded on base.

Center fielder Kat Strickland recorded an assist, gunning down Briane Wesley at second base in the second inning after Wesley tried to stretch a single into a double. Left fielder Kallen Vann saved a run in the third inning when Baggerly singled with Brittany Dobbs on second base. Vann's throw forced Dobbs to stop at third base, and Crow got out of the inning, inducing a soft liner to short and a ground ball to second.

"It (clinging to the lead) just kept all the girls so excited," Crow said. "It was like a win after every inning. The outfield was so amazing tonight.

"They needed that. The whole team needed that."

While the Lady Hawks were unable to push a run across despite eight hits, the Lady Badgers put on a clinic in small ball, scoring the lone run on a single hit.

Wilson led off the third inning with a line-drive double over Dobbs' head in left. Strickland followed with a successful sacrifice bunt, and Crow drove Wilson home with a ground ball to short.

"Shelby was doing really well in batting practice, streaming the ball," Crow said. "Her base running was awesome, and she made a great slide (to score the run). It was a really big confidence booster for her."

With the second half of the district loop starting tonight, the Lady Badgers have lost just two district games decisively, the loss to Vista Ridge and a 3-0 loss at Dripping Springs. They lost at Marble Falls, 4-3, and at Connally.

Crow said her teammates know they could be sitting at 5-2 or 4-3 right now, but they're not going to dwell on the reasons they're not.

"When we play Connally and Marble Falls again, we'll have a whole new mind set," she said. "After the Connally game, everybody decided we need to just go out there and have more fun with it."