Ellen Reid and Emilie Skala took care of each other on the bases and Victoria Conners took care of the Rogers from the circle to lift the Rosebud-Lott Lady Cougars to a 2-0 victory over the host Lady Eagles on Thursday evening.
Rosebud-Lott and Salado share the top with perfect District 25-2A records through three games. The Lady Cougars moved to 8-2 overall, while Rogers slipped to 6-5-1, 1-2.
“We got people on and manufactured some runs,” said Rosebud-Lott coach Keele Wells, whose team will host Lago Vista tonight. “That was very good because that’s an area we had been lacking in.
“We knew this would be a big game and we needed to make things happen.”
Conners (6-0) kept the Lady Eagles at bay with a masterful two-hit performance. Conners struck out nine batters and walked two. She retired the final eight batters in order to lock down the victory.
“Victoria used every pitch she had,” Wells said. “With a good hitting team like that we knew we had to do that to keep them off-balance.”
Nicholyn Carter-Maddux went the distance in the loss for Rogers, scattering six hits, striking out nine and walking one.
Rosebud-Lott simply got a pair of key hits from Skala, who drove in Reid in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, for the game’s only two scores.
“They made the plays when they needed them,” said Rogers coach Kristie Waits, whose team topped No. 14-ranked Troy on Wednesday and will travel to Academy tonight. “We just had an off night at the plate.”
Reid led off the fourth by drilling a one-hop double off the left-field fence. Skala punched a one-out RBI single to center to score Reid and break the scoreless tie.
The pair got together again in the sixth to add a bit of insurance. Reid led off by smoking a grounder through the middle. Skala followed with a double to right-center for the 2-0 advantage.
Rogers’ best opportunity to score came in the fourth. Kendra Hinze shot a grounder past first base to lead it off. Cheyenne Marshall clubbed a hit to center to put two runners on. Hinze and courtesy runner Blake Tamplen moved into scoring position on Lacy Able’s groundout.
Conners managed to fan Lauren Ziegler to get out of the inning and preserve the shutout.
“We played good enough defense, but we didn’t take care of business at the plate,” Waits said. “They got theirs on and around and we didn’t."
