Powerful V. Ridge tops LHS
VR 7, LHS 2
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE LHS third baseman Vonzella Underwood records one of her five assists in Friday night's loss.

CEDAR PARK - It wasn't a run-rule this time around, but improved efforts don't show up in the win-loss column.

The Lampasas High School softball team showed drastic improvement since its first meeting with Cedar Park Vista Ridge, cutting its margin of defeat in half and playing seven innings against the powerful Lady Rangers Friday night at Cedar Park.

The Lady Badgers, who were run-ruled 11-1 by the Lady Rangers in Lampasas on March 3, trailed just 3-2 in the fourth inning Friday before a three-run Vista Ridge inning put the Lady Rangers (20-3 overall, 7-1 in District 25-4A) in command. Despite the obvious improvement shown by the Lady Badgers since the first meeting, the loss drops them to 3-5 in district with first-place Dripping Springs scheduled to come to town tonight. The Lady Tigers, behind a typical performance from standout pitcher Paige Sandahl, beat LHS 3-0 on March 7.

"We've swung the bat well and improved remarkably the last few weeks, but inconsistency kills us," LHS head coach Chris Gaffney said. "We're going to approach it the same way we did the first time we played them because we were a bad relay throw and a missed bunt attempt away from beating them the first time."

The Lady Badgers got off to a strong start Friday when Taryn Brown blasted what appeared to be a three-run home run in the top of the first inning, but it was ruled a two-run homer because one of the LHS runners failed to touch home plate.

The Lady Badgers recorded three hits off Vista Ridge starter Erika Vital in the inning, also getting singles from Marisa Bogart and Vonzella Underwood. Vital would settle down and hold LHS to just four more hits in the game, two singles by Kallen Vann, a double by Shelby Wilson and a single by Taylor Holloman.

Meanwhile, the Lady Rangers recorded 11 hits, including home runs from Taylor Thom and Coralee Ramirez. Thom, a sophomore shortstop who was all-district as a freshman, finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

LHS senior Kirby Crow threw a complete game and took the loss.

JV note: In an 11-4 LHS win at Vista Ridge, freshman Madison Morris cranked two home runs.