Four errors that led to four unearned runs doomed the Lady Rebels in an 8-6 home loss against Alamo Heights Tuesday night. Hays will try to get back on track in district action Friday night at Clemens. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
by JASON GORDON
The Hays softball team was plagued by errors anad unearned runs in an 8-6 loss to Alamo Heights at Lady Rebel Field Monday night.
Four of the eight runs Alamo Heights scored came after Hays errors that were committed with two outs already recorded in an inning.
With the loss, Hays falls to 7-7 overall and 1-1 in District 27-4A play.
“It’s disappointing to lose a game you feel you could have won and should have won,” said Hays head coach Aaron Fuller. “It was just one of those fluke things because we’ve been playing solid defense all year. I’m not sure what happened but we’ll just chalk it up as a loss and move on. We’re not going to dwell on it.”
After Alamo Heights took a 1-0 lead early on, the Lady Rebs rebounded to rake a 3-1 advantage after the first inning.
Maddy Shannon, who finished with a single, double, triple and three runs scored on the night, started the rally. Haleigh Madden, Brayden Pinckard and Clarissa Gonzalez followed with runs batted in, and the Lady Rebs had all the momentum.
That all changed in the top of the third inning, when Kali Tyler’s three-run blast over the wall in left-center field gave the Mules a 5-3 lead.
Hannah Ramsey scored on a Pinckard single in the bottom of the third to cut the margin to 5-4.
The wheels fell off for Hays in the top of the fifth. After the Lady Rebs recorded two quick outs to start the inning, three straight errors allowed Alamo Heights to score three runs and take an 8-4 lead.
The Lady Rebels tried to rally, as Shannon scored on a Madden RBI in the bottom of the fifth and seventh innings, but that’s as close as Hays would get.
Sarah Leal pitched a complete game for the Lady Rebs, allowing eight hits and four earned runs while striking out five Mules.
“We have seven losses this season, and this is the only one where we didn’t play well,” Fuller said. “We’ve been facing tough competition and I’m still very excited about this team. I expect us to come out Friday night against Clemens and get this thing turned around.”
Hays is back in District 27-4A action on the road against Clemens Friday with a scheduled first pitch of 7 p.m. The Lady Rebs return home to face Lockhart Tuesday night with another scheduled 7 p.m. start.
