Offense powers Lady Blues to bi-district championship

The Graham Lady Blues met little resistance last weekend in their quest for a second straight bi-district championship. The team earned run-rule victories to take the series 2-0 over Lubbock Estacado.

After winning 11-1 in five innings Friday, April 26, the Lady Blues dominated the Lady Mats 20-6 in six innings Saturday, April 27 to claim the championship with ease.

Graham will meet Burkburnett in the area playoff with games one and two taking place May 2-3 at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. Both games will begin at 6 p.m. and, if necessary, a third game will be played at MSU beginning at noon Saturday, May 4.

Lady Blues 11, Lady Mats 1

Reese Calhoun nearly threw a perfect game to open the best-of-three series Friday against the Lady Mats. She struck out 10 of the 17 batters she faced and gave up one hit: a one-out single in the fourth inning.

The Lady Blues reached double-digit hits and scored multiple runs in four out of the game’s five innings. The Lady Blues took the lead early in the bottom of the first inning by taking advantage of an Olga Morales walk and Calhoun single.

Meagan Brooks brought home Morales with a ground out to the shortstop for the first run. Emily Lawson, who drew a two-out walk, and Paris Tate, who followed with a single, both scored on a double to left field by Zoey Harrell and the Lady Blues were up 3-0 after the first inning.

Graham tacked on two more runs in the second inning when Brooks reached on a fielding error that brought home Kathryn Hughes and Morales, who had opened the bottom of the second inning with consecutive singles.

The Lady Blues continued to rack up hits and take advantage of Lubbock Estacado errors. The Lady Mats committed six errors in the game in addition to Graham’s 10 hits, which led to their 11 runs. The home team scored three more runs in the third inning and another three runs in the fifth to put the game away.

Lubbock Estacado avoided a shutout and having a no-hitter thrown against them in the fourth inning. A one-out single for the Lady Mats turned into their lone run on a fielding error a couple batters later to make it 8-1. But the Lady Blues offense added runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to complete the run-rule win in five innings.

Lady Blues 20, Lady Mats 6

Harrell earned the victory in the pitcher’s circle in a wild game two of the series. The Lady Blues played as the visiting team on their home field and briefly trailed before rattling off 19 runs over the final four innings to claim the run-rule victory in six innings.

Once again, Graham got the scoring started in the first inning as Morales opened the game with a line drive to center field and scored on a double to left field by Calhoun.

The Lady Mats took their only lead in the playoff series during the bottom of the second inning. After Harrell struck out the first two batters, the next three recorded hits as two singles and a double turned into two runs for Lubbock Estacado and a 2-1 lead.

Graham didn’t let that lead last long, however, as they responded with a pair of runs in the third inning. After making use of an error and a couple singles, the flood gates opened and the Lady Blues never looked back.

In the fourth inning the Lady Blues put up four more runs to push their lead to 7-2. The Lady Mats answered with a run in their half of the inning, but then Graham broke the game wide open.

After a pitching change for the Lady Mats in the top of the fifth inning, Mayci Ryans led off with a solo home run over the left field fence, her first of the year. That was the start of an eight-run inning for the Lady Blues, who led 15-3 after four and a half innings of play.

Facing the possibility of another run-rule shortened game, Lubbock Estacado tacked on three runs in their half of the fifth inning to cut into the deficit and make it 15-6. However, the Lady Blues added five more runs in the sixth and Calhoun came in to shut the Lady Mats down to take the win and bi-district championship.

“I thought we came out and made solid contact,” Lady Blues coach Adam Arrington said. “I think we hit the ball real well yesterday and today… we just hit the ball hard and ran the bases well.”

The Lady Blues will prepare this week for a second-straight area championship. They will meet the Lady Bulldogs, who defeated Bridgeport in two games.

“We’ve got to be able to play error-free softball and be ready to hit a good pitcher,” Arrington said. “(Burkburnett’s) got a good pitcher. …We’ve faced her before, this will be the fourth year, but we’ve faced them multiple times. She’s good at what she does. They know us well, and we know them well, so it should be a fun and exciting series.”