–The Sam Houston Lady Broncos wrapped up another District 5-4A title on Saturday with a 3-0 win over DeRidder in Moss Bluff.
Sam Houston (21-4, 7-0) dominated at the plate and in the circle. The Lady Broncos had 12 hits and freshman pitcher Baylee Corbello struck out 11 while allowing just one hit.
The only real blemish in the game for the Lady Broncos besides one error was that they left 12 runners on base. Even with the struggle to get runners across the plate, Sam Houston head coach Beth Domingue was pleased with Saturday’s performance after a 10-0 loss to St. Thomas More on Friday.
“I think that we hit the ball well,” Domingue said. “We hit the ball a lot better than yesterday.
“We hit them hard but we just hit it straight at them. Not everything can go our way.”
Sam Houston would have had a few more runs if not for the play of DeRidder center fielder Allie O’Neal who saved at least three runs after catching deep fly balls. She saved a sure double by Kim Kennedy in the third inning with a catch near the fence over her shoulder and another deep shot in the fourth inning by Brandi Reed that would have scored two runs.
DeRidder’s only hit came in the fourth inning when Kylie Harlow hit a grounder up the middle. The Lady Dragons also got a base runner in that inning on an error but left both stranded after Corbello got two strikeouts to end the inning.
“You have to hit the ball to win in softball,” DeRidder head coach Ryan Starks said. “We had just one hit. They (Sam Houston) are a solid team and she (Corbello) is a solid pitcher.
“If we are going to do well in the playoffs we are going to have to hit. She has a good rise ball and a lot of batters chase it. We did a better job of laying off of them this time.”
Reed got Sam Houston on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run double to right field.
But the Lady Broncos left at least two runners stranded in each of the next three innings before picking up a lone run in the fifth inning.
Tori Lantz and Kayla Hooper hit back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the fifth. Maddie Smith loaded the bases on a bunt with one out after no one covered first. Brooke Rozas hit a single to left to score Lantz but Sam Houston left the bases loaded for the second time in the game.
Despite the loss, DeRidder (11-10, 5-3) has locked up second place in District 5-4A. Even if St. Louis were to beat Sam Houston on Tuesday, the Lady Dragons own the tiebreaker over the Lady Saints having won both regular season meetings.
Box score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7– R H E
DHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0– 0 1 3
SHHS 2 0 0 0 1 0 0– 3 12 1
WP: Corbello (7IP, 0R, 1H, 11K, 1BB)
LP: Sisco (6IP, 3ER, 12H, 2K, 2BB)
BATTING: Sam Houston–Rozas, 1-4, RBI; Corbello 2-4; Kennedy 1-3, R; Reed 1-3, 2RBI, double; Lantz 2-4, R; Hooper 2-3; Wood 1-3; Smith 2-3, double. DeRidder–Harlow 1-3.
LOB: Sam Houston (12), DeRidder (3).
District 5-4A softball standings
Overall Dist.
Sam Houston 21-4 7-0
DeRidder 11-10 5-3
St. Louis 15-11 4-3
Jennings 11-9 2-5
Washtington-Marion 1-8 0-7
