Details, details.
Rather than swinging for the fences, the Lady Tigers found safe haven for low-flying missiles and rang up a 12-1, six-inning victory over Temple at Tem-Cat Field in a District 13-5A softball game Tuesday night.
Belton moved to 17-5 and completed the first half of district play at 5-1 and in a three-way tie for first with Bryan and College Station A&M Consolidated.
The win also set up a vital showdown against Bryan on Friday at Lady Tiger Field. Temple dipped to 6-16 overall and 2-4 in league play but still kept a leg up in the race for the fourth-place playoff spot.
Brynne Steger complemented her teammates’ 10-hit performance by holding the Tem-Cats to three hits with one strikeout and one walk.
“We could see we couldn’t hit the ball in the air,” Belton coach Matt Blackburn said. “We had to hit the ball on a line or on the ground. We made the adjustment at the plate and it was smooth sailing from there.”
Belton scored in five of the six innings, managing to get the leadoff hitter aboard in five of the six frames.
Elisa Espinoza went the first four innings for the Tem-Cats and Perri Jimenez the final two. They combined to walk nine Lady Tigers and struck out two.
“That’s a good team, a senior-laden team,” Temple first-year coach Steve Prentiss said of the Lady Tigers. “They’re an offensive juggernaut to an extent. Our pitchers struggled to find the strike zone and getting the leadoffs on hurt us.”
It was still a far better effort than last week’s 10-0 loss to Bryan in which the Tem-Cats sent 15 batters to the plate and saw 13 of them go down on strikes.
“We hit the ball on the nose,” Prentiss said. “Theirs found holes and ours went right at somebody.”
Both teams got on the board in the first inning. Courtney Crossley blooped a singled just over Jimenez at shortstop to drive in Jessica Whitley for a 1-0 lead. It was the first of three runs for Whitley, who drew three walks and had a hit in five appearances.
Temple matched the run in the bottom of the inning with a two-out spark. Kacie Easley stuck a liner to center field. Clarissa Villanueva followed with a rap to the right-center gap. Villanueva went to second on the throw and the return attempt to nab her there got away, allowing Easley to score.
The Lady Tigers broke the tie with a two-run third as Kalee Young roped a hit to center to drive in Whitley and Skylor Alford.
Belton opened the game up with a four-run fourth to go up 7-1. The first four batters - KC Warehime, Victoria Alcozer, Krystal Faber and Whitley - all reached and all scored. Warehime and Alcozer scored following a couple of Tem-Cat errors.
Faber came home on an Alford groundout. Faber was injured on the slide into home and left the game. Her status was not known.
Brianna Bozon lofted a fly to right to score Whitley from third.
The Lady Tigers came up with two more in the fifth. Crossley led off with a double and courtesy-runner Megan Surovik scored on a Warehime hit. Cat Curry scored later on an error.
Belton added the final three in the sixth, with Young, Curry and Warehime all circling the bases.
Temple put runners in scoring position in the third and fourth, to no avail. Jordan Valentin had a hit followed by an Easley walk in the third, but the Tem-Cats couldn’t push one across. Steger retired the final nine batters she faced.
Seven Lady Tigers recorded hits, with Alford and Young getting two each.
twaits@temple-telegram.com
