The Lady Bulldogs knew what was at stake when they met northside rival United in the season finale. A win would propel them to second place and a loss would leave them in third place.
Alexander took no chance and utilized the opening inning to race out big against United and never looked back to pick up a 12-6 victory to sweep the series. The Lady Bulldogs finish in second place despite having identical records (6-4) with United after taking the series.
“The girls were getting hot at the right time,” Alexander head coach Alex Colin said. “We scored 12 runs against (United) South, 17 against Del Rio, and to put up 12 runs against United was a big feat. The girls are just seeing the ball well and have worked real hard in the cages and its is paying off.”
United struck first in the opening inning with pitcher KK Cox who ripped a triple on the first pitch of the game, but the Alexander defense came up big with the second batter. The ball was hit to Alexander pitcher Ellie Gonzalez who faked a throw to first as Cox was attempting to steal home plate. Gonzalez threw the ball to Alexander catcher Mia Rubio who tagged Cox at home plate to preserve the 0-0 score.
The Lady Longhorns were able to put up two runs to take a 2-0 lead at the top of the opening inning.
Alexander’s Carmen Perez has been blasting the ball and carries around a .542 batting average. Perez ripped the ball for a single and then went on to utilize her speed, stealing second base. On the season Perez has 34 stolen bases.
“After they took a 2-0 led we were a little flustered, but we told them we still have seven innings to play,” Colin said. “We have been talking about clutch hitting with runners in scoring position, and our last three games we have been phenomenal. Our RBIs are up, our two-out hitting is up, our clutch situation… runs are batted in. We are hitting the ball with people on.”
Perez set the tone, and when it was all done, Alexander had scored eight runs to take a commanding 8-2 lead at the end of the first inning. The Lady Bulldogs continued to add to their lead for the next three innings before United put together its best inning in the fourth.
The Lady Longhorns were able to score four runs to cut down Alexander’s lead, but the damage from the opening inning was too great to overcome as the Lady Bulldogs picked up the victory and the second-place standing in District 30-6A.
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