In the second game of the girls 9-10 postseason tournament held Tuesday evening at the Civic Center, O’Reilly Auto Parts versus Womack Printing turned into a battle of who wanted it more.
O’Reilly Auto Parts defeated Womack Printing by a final score of 20-8. O’Reilly Auto Parts built an early lead that it was able to maintain throughout the game. Womack Printing, on the other hand, started reasonably well but was not able to keep pace and fell short in the second half of the four-inning game.
Kyra Perkins led off the top of the first with a walk. Perkins stole second and third. Haylee Simpson also reached base on balls. Cadi Beth Todd singled through the defense and Perkins scored and O’Reilly Auto Parts led 1-0. Bella Cantrell, Layla Bouldin, and Kara Best all reached base on balls and runs continued to cross the plate. The five-run rule was reached and O’Reilly Auto Parts led 5-0 halfway through the first.
Womack Printing went to work in the bottom of the first and Paige Sweeton drew a walk. Sweeton stole every base after that. Regin Grissom also got a free pass down to first base and she also stole every base and Womack Printing trailed 5-2. Lataya Johnson, Marli McBride, and Vada Lowry all walked to first base. Johnson and McBride would score before things got tough. Lowry was caught when she attempted to steal home after a strikeout. With two down, Mackena Hillis walked to first base and a strikeout followed for out three, ending the inning with a score of 5-4 in favor of O’Reilly Auto Parts.
In the top of the second, O’Reilly utilized three consecutive walks. Todd singled and advanced the runners and allowed Lydia Netherton to score. Cantrell hit a line-drive through the infield and scored Kaylee Sklenka. Perkins was caught out when she attempted to steal third base. Bouldin connected on a pitch and smashed a hit past the defense for a home run to clear the bases and O’Reilly Auto Parts reached the limit to end the inning with an 11-4 lead.
Womack Printing had its last decent inning of play in the bottom of the second. Sadie Duggin led off the second with a walk. A strikeout followed and Womack Printing went back to the top of the batting order. Sweeton drew her second walk just before strikeout number two came.
With two on and two outs, Johnson hit a line-drive into the outfield for a double. McBride followed with a triple for Womack Printing that cleared the bases. Just as the inning turned around for the better, a strikeout ended the inning and McBride was left at third. Womack Printing trailed 11-7.
In the top of the third, O’Reilly started the inning with a pair of walks by Best and Abby Sullivan. A strikeout followed the pair of walks. A second pair of walks by Sklenka and Perkins added runners to the base pads and allowed Best to score for a 12-7 lead. Simpson drew a walk but was thrown out as she attempted to steal second. Todd singled through the infield and was the last runner of the inning. O’Reilly Auto Parts continued to add to its lead, 15-7.
For the first time in the game Womack Printing went three up, three down, all on strikeouts and the score remained 15-7 after three complete innings.
O’Reilly Auto Parts went back to the plate in the top of the fourth. A total of five walks were thrown and a total of five runs were scored before Womack Printing was able to collect the third out and O’Reilly Auto Parts took a commanding 20-7 lead.
Duggin started the inning off with a walk for Womack Printing. She was given the green light and Duggin stole every base including home and Womack Printing trailed 20-8. Trinity Eckel reached first base on balls. The two following batters went down on strikes and Eckel’s was cleared to make an attempt to steal third, she was caught for the final out.
O’Reilly Auto Parts was the second team to cement its name in the finals Thursday evening. Womack Printing did not have enough in the tank down the stretch and was defeated by O’Reilly Auto Parts by a final score of 20-8.