By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (March 21, 2017) — Down a run with the bases juiced and two outs, Stephenville couldn’t have asked to be at a better spot in its deep and talented lineup.
Julia Flores stepped up to the plate and drove the second pitch she saw into right field, bringing in two runs to put Stephenville on top 4-3.
“It’s hard to draw it up any better than that,” said Stephenville head coach Rus Mayes. “Especially with the way she’s been hitting the ball lately.”
Nadine Arredondo was next up, and the flood gates were soon open with runs being added in droves. The sixth-ranked Honeybees scored six times in the sixth and five more in the top of the seventh, turning a 3-2 deficit into a key 13-3 road victory over Alvarado Tuesday night.
Stephenville (17-3, 5-0) pushed its own win streak to five and snapped the five-game win streak of Alvarado (12-8, 3-1) to retain sole possession of first place in District 8-4A.
“We got a little bit from everybody tonight,” said Mayes. “We asked a lot of different girls to step up, and a lot of them did just that. This is a great team win.”
Indeed. The key to Stephenville making it to the big bats in the sixth may have been a well-placed bloop single to left by Kennedy Richards, who played the whole game at second base but was not in the batting lineup until the big pinch-hit base knock that helped to prolong what turned into the most important inning to this point of the season for the Bees.
“When Kennedy hits the ball, she hits it hard, and she came through big for us tonight, just like a lot our girls did,” Mayes said. “It’s like I just told them after the game, if they play as hard as they can all the time, there aren’t many teams we will face that can stay with them for seven innings.
Alvarado couldn’t. Not even with the momentum of its own recent success and home field advantage.
Flores already had a two-run double to tie the game at 2-2 after Alvarado had taken the early lead. The junior pitcher – who went the distance to improve to 15-3 in the circle – also drove in a run on a groundout in the seventh, giving her 5 RBI for the game and 11 in her last two performances.
Madison Gilder came in on a wild pitch to make it 5-3, Jessica Howell unloaded a 2-run dropped fly to right for a four-run lead, then Sami Shaffer blasted an RBI triple to the fence in right to complete the six-run sixth with Stephenville on top 8-3.
An RBI single by Gilder and the last RBI by Flores made it 10-3 in the seventh before Alvarado crumbled, surrendering another run on a single by Arredondo, one on a hit by Jessica Howell and the final tally on an infield single by Bianca Combs.
The first five innings were a dog fight, with Alvarado leading 2-0 before the first two Stephenville runs in the fifth, and the Lady Indians moving back ahead by a run in the bottom of that inning.
“It was tough; obviously it didn’t really feel like a 13-3 game, it just kind of ended up that way,” Mayes said. “Alvarado has a good team, we knew that coming in here, and we knew it would be tough to steal one at their place, so this is huge.”
Morgan DiCiccio scored the official winning run on Flores’ big sixth-inning hit. DiCiccio was 2-for-4 with two runs, Gilder finished 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI and Flores was 2-for-5 with the five runs driven in. Arredondo and Howell were each 2-for-5, as well, and Shaffer was 3-for-4 with her sixth-inning RBI. Combs, Richards and Samantha Luna added a base knock each as Stephenville amassed 17 total hits.
Flores surrendered single runs in the first, third and fifth from the circle, but was untouchable over the final two innings. Only two of Alvarado’s runs were earned, and Flores struck out 11 while yielding five hits and two walks.
Stephenville welcomes Godley to McCleskey Field in Stephenville City Park on Friday. It’s Teacher Appreciation Night with first pitch set for 7 p.m. following a 5 p.m. junior varsity contest.
“I told the girls, this is a big win, but the shine kind of comes off it if we come out flat and don’t take care of business on Friday,” said Mayes.
The shine is still bright on Tuesday night, though.
And the Honeybees are leading the pack in 8-4A.
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