Latexo Dismantles Caldwell, 11-2
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CALDWELL – The Latexo Lady Tigers are looking to stay sharp as the playoffs approach and with an open date during district play, the Lady Tigers hit the road on Tuesday evening to take on the Class 3A Caldwell Lady Hornets.
It appeared the Lady Tigers were in a foul mood after the two-hour bus ride, as they came out slugging and pounded their hosts by a score of 11-2.
The beat down started in the first inning. Avery Smith got the start for Caldwell and after getting Latexo’s lead-off batter – Charlee Biano – to pop up, she gave up back-to-back doubles. First, Shelby Eberts slapped one into center and then Natalie Nicol followed up with a two-bagger of her own to drive in Eberts.
A passed ball with Baylee Omelina at the plate moved Nicol to third. Omelina eventually drew a walk and when Katy Allen lofted a fly ball to left, Nicol tagged up and trotted home to make the score 2-0.
After Smith retired Cammy Parrish for the third out, the Lady Hornets struck back. Taylor Dise was in the circle for the Lady Tigers and got Caldwell’s lead-off batter to pop up to first. Smith followed with a double and moved to third on a fly ball out to right.
Smith wasn’t there long as Aliyah Vela slapped a 1-0 pitch into center to drive her in and make the score 2-1. Dise shook off the early run, however, and caught Kelly Urbanovsky looking at strike three to end the frame.
When the Lady Tigers came in from the field, they pushed their lead to 4-1. Dise led off for Latexo and grounded into a 5-3 force at first. Lauren Woodard was up next and singled to center. She moved to second on a Mally Moore groundout and took third when Biano beat out an infield hit.
Eberts followed Biano in the batting order and was hit by a Smith pitch to load the bases. That brought Nicol to the plate with two outs and the bags juiced. On an 0-1 pitch, Nicol delivered a shot to center, driving in Woodard and Biano to make the score 4-1.
Smith was able to work her way out of the inning with out any further damage but when the Lady Hornets came up to bat, Dise made quick work out of them. She got Tess Homeyer to fly out to center and then popped up Jillian Vykukal for two quick outs before fanning Trista Duesterhoft for an easy 1-2-3 inning.
A quiet third gave way to the fourth as the Lady Hornets trimmed the lead to 4-2. The damage was quick, however, as the first pitch Dise threw to Kyleigh Gomez was turned around on a blast over the center field fence.
Once again, Dise shook it off and went back to work. She struck out Vela on four pitches, forced Urbanovsky to ground out to third and then fanned Homeyer to end the inning.
With the game still very much in doubt, the Lady Tigers exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth to put the contest out of reach.
Nicol led off with an infield single and took second on an error. A wild pitch with Omelina in the box moved her to third. The Latexo catcher drew her second walk of the game and Katy Goolsby came in as a courtesy runner.
Allen was next in the batting order and laced a single past short. Nicol scored on the play, Goolsby moved to third and Allen took second on the throw. Parrish followed with a liner to first for out number one, but an error after the catch allowed Goolsby to scamper home while Allen moved to third.
With the score now 6-2, the flood gates opened. Dise drew a walk and moved to second on defensive indifference. Allen stole home while Dise stole third. Kaitlyn Carrazza came in as a courtesy runner for Dise after that.
Woodard followed with a double that didn’t leave the infield but held Carraza at third. It didn’t really matter, however, as Mally Moore singled past short to drive her in and make the score 8-2.
The highlight of the inning happened next. Biano came to the plate with two on and one out. On the second pitch she saw, Biano timed it perfectly and sent it deep into the nighttime sky for a 3-run blast, putting the Lady Tigers up 11-2.
Smith eventually got a double play to end the inning but the damage was done as Latexo plated seven in the inning. That was it for the offense as both teams made changes in the circle. Woodard came in for Dise in the bottom of the fifth and held the host team scoreless while Faust relieved Smith in the top of the sixth and kept the score at 11-2.
Dise picked up the win with four innings of work. She gave up two runs on three hits and struck out four. Woodard worked three innings and didn’t allow a run on three hits. She also had two Ks.
Smith took the loss in five innings of work. She gave up 11 runs on 12 hits, struck out two and walked four. Faust pitched two innings in relief and gave up one hit to go along with one strikeout and two walks.
At the plate, Latexo was led by Nicol who was 5-5 with three RBI and two runs while Biano was 2-4 with three RBI, a homerun, two runs scored and a walk.
The Lady Hornets were led by Aliyah Vela who was 2-3 with an RBI while Kyleigh Gomez was 1-3 with a homer and an RBI.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
