Lady Blues open district with 5-4 win over Honeybees

The Graham Lady Blues varsity softball team picked up a huge come from behind win to open up district play Tuesday. After struggling for much of the game at the plate, the Lady Blues erupted in the sixth inning to capture the victory. 

Lady Blues head coach Adam Arrington believed the teams coaching and practice for situations like these is what led to the explosion of runs. 

“We’ve just been preaching everyday at practice get better today than you were yesterday,” Arrington said. “We put the ball in play but didn’t score in the first four innings. (The Team) stayed the course, they grinded and they strung a couple of runs.” 

The first two inning were smooth sailing for Lady Blues pitcher Zoey Harrell. She retired the first six Stephenville Honeybees with ease, orchestrating three flyouts, one pop up to the infield and two strikeouts of Honeybees shortstop Presley Gaitan and second baseman Emma Villegas. 

However, in the middle innings, things started to get dicey. The Lady Blues surrendered four unanswered runs from the third inning to the fifth with the highlight of these being a solo homerun over the left field wall from Gaitan. Arrington said the main culprit of the teams inconsistency is roster turnover and inexperience. 

“We graduated eight seniors last year and we knew we were going to be young,” Arrington said. “They’ve struggled, it’s been ups and downs this season.” 

After what looked like a long day for both the varsity and junior varsity teams, things started to change in the fifth. The Lady Blues showed discipline at the plate drawing two walks from right fielder Kimberly Aguirre and second baseman Jansyn Louder. 

First Baseman Larissa Warren capitalized on the opportunity, scoring Aguirre from second on an RBI single to right field to make it a 4-1 ballgame. This spark of momentum was all that was needed to swing the tide completely in favor of the Lady Blues. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning left fielder Ruby Shaffer got things started with a base hit to center field followed by multiple walks from center fielder Hadleigh Allen and designated hitter Alexis Aguirre. With the bases loaded Shaffer drew another run off the Honeybees by stealing home after a wild pitch from Mattie-Lynn Dunnam. Then came the big knock. 

With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the sixth, Louder hit a clutch bases clearing double off the left field wall to give the Lady Blues a 5-4 lead. The team made quick work of the Honeybees in the top of the seventh with two strikeouts and a groundout to seal the win. Arrington believes this win will carry the team further in district play. 

“Momentum’s huge, if you can catch a little bit of momentum and get hot at the right time, I think they remember that,” Arrington said. “If you can ride the momentum and keep working and keep trying to better yourself everyday, this team is capable of doing whatever they put their minds to.”