Lady Tigers Shut Out Sandiettes, 7-0

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – It was a cold, blustery day when the Latexo Lady Tigers rolled into town to take on the Grapeland Sandiettes on Friday of last week.

While the Lady Tigers had opened district competition the previous day with an 8-1 win over the Slocum Lady Mustangs, it was the Sandiettes’ district opener.

Grapeland opened the season playing well and had a 5-0 record at one point. Since then, however, the Sandiettes have been in a bit of slump. Latexo, on the other hand had, had been on a hot streak as of late and hadn’t dropped a game since a 3-0 loss to Taylor on Feb. 24.

The Sandiettes were hoping to end their skid as district competition got underway, but the Lady Tigers continued to roll on in the less-than-ideal conditions as they shutout their neighbors to the north by a final score of 7-0.

Jaycee Graham was in the circle for the Sandiettes as the game got underway and she looked sharp in the early going. Graham coaxed Charlee Biano to line out to third, forced Rowdy Stokes to fly out to right and then got some defensive help from Anna Cutshaw in left as she made a diving catch on a little flare from Natalie Nicol.

When the Sandiettes came in from the field they looked like they were going to blow the game open in the early innings. Lauren Woodard was in the circle for the Lady Tigers and she gave up a lead-off double to MaKayla McCombs. Woodard followed up with a five-pitch walk to Morgan Terry to put runners at first and second with nobody out.

The Latexo right hander seemed to shake off the cold after that. Woodard fanned Kayleigh Lively on four pitches, struck out Graham on three and then got Jessi Cunningham on five to end the inning.   

In the second, Graham fell victim to some bad breaks. Baylee Omelina led off the inning and lined out to third. Katy Allen followed with a single to left and moved to second on a passed ball. Cammy Parrish was up next and she reached on a dropped third strike which moved Allen to third.

Taylor Dise was next in the batting order. She lifted a fly ball to left that was deep enough for Allen to tag up and score but a miscue on the throw allowed Parrish to motor all the way over to third. Woodard followed with a Texas Leaguer to shallow right which drove in Parrish from third and made the score 2-0. It seemed like the Lady Tigers were poised to strike but a base running error brought the top of the second to a close.

As the temperature began to drop, so did the Sandiettes’ on-base percentage. Ella Post grounded into a 4-3 force at first but Haley Boehm followed with a single up the middle. Dalli Jones came in as a pinch runner for the Grapeland catcher but she was stranded at first after Cutshaw struck out while MaKenna McCombs grounded out to second.

Latexo broke the game open in the top of third. Biano led off with a double and advanced to third on a passed ball. A dropped third strike allowed Stokes to reach first and then second while Biano scampered home to make the score 3-0.  

Nicol followed with a double to right which drove in Stokes, making it 4-0. Omelina drew a walk but with the count 3-0, Nicol was gunned down trying to steal third. Katy Goolsby came in to run for Omelina and when Allen doubled to left, Goolsby moved to third.

Parrish followed in the batting order and singled into centerfield to plate both Goolsby and Allen. Dise was up next and she lined a shot to third where Morgan Terry was honing her Gold Glove skills. After Woodard singled to right, Terry’s glovework was on display again as she snagged another liner – this time from Mally Moore – for the third out.

That was all the Lady Tigers would need as Woodard kept Grapeland off the base paths, for the most part, for the next two innings while Katy Allen pitched the final three frames as Latexo took out Grapeland by a final score of 7-0.   

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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