Freshman pitchers lead Bees to second in Eastland tourney

Honeybee softball team pic — The 2015 Stephenville Honeybee softball team. || Contributed

Staff Report

TheFlashToday.com NEWS & SPORTS – FREE & LOCAL

(February 23, 2015) — Stephenville finished one run short in the Eastland Invitational last weekend, but showed the potential for a bright future in the process.

Freshman pitchers Julia Flores and Rainey Boase each had strong performances in the circle throughout the weekend for the Bees, who are off to a 5-2 start under third-year head coach Rus Mayes.

Henrietta won the tournament, edging Stephenville 6-5 in the championship Saturday night. It was 6-2 before the Bees rallied with two outs in the ninth, led by a 3-run home run by Sierra Varnado. Sami Shaffer followed with a double to put the tying run in scoring position before a line out ended the game.

The Bees reached the final by dominating Early 8-1 in a semifinal. In pool play, they beat host Eastland – Mayes’ old team – 1-0 and Albany 6-5 before allying to Holliday, 3-0.

The Stephenville Honeybees enjoy a fun pic following their second-place finish in last weekend's Eastland tournament. || Contributed — The Stephenville Honeybees enjoy a fun pic following their second-place finish in last weekend’s Eastland tournament. || Contributed

Flores has started five games and made six appearances, surrendering just seven earned runs over 25.2 innings for an ERA of 1.91. She has struck out 34 batters – 1.3 per inning – while issuing just even total walks and yielding 20 hits.

Boase has made two starts and pitched 42 innings, surrendering only two earned runs for an ERA of 2.36. she has six strikeouts and six walks while surrendering five hits.

Flores leads the team in batting average, hits and runs batted in with a sludge edge over Varnado in each category. Flores is hitting .471 with eight hits and eight RBI, while Varnado is hitting .462 with six hits and seven RBI.

Kali Smith broke free from the Honeybees’ playoff basketball team to hit .417 over the weekend. She leads the team with nine runs scored. Morgan Diciccio, another freshman, is hitting .333 and has scored six runs.

Stephenville welcomes Godley to McCleskey Field at 6 p.m. Tuesday, weather permitting. This weekend, the annual Honeybee Classic takes over Stephenville City Park. The Bees face Hamilton, Childress and Eastland in Friday pool play with bracket action to follow on Saturday.