It never becomes old hat.
They continued their attack against the ball with the red dot by banging out 14 hits - including a three-run home run by KC Warehime - en route to a 14-6 victory over the Temple Tem-Cats in both teams’ regular-season finale Friday at Lady Tiger Field.
“I wouldn’t want to throw to our lineup,” said Blackburn, whose team moved to 22-6 overall and finished District 13-5A at 10-2 to capture second place behind College Station A&M Consolidated, a 15-0 winner over Killeen Shoemaker. “I wouldn’t know what to throw.”
Belton advances to play the No. 3 seed from 14-5A, which could be Round Rock Westwood. Athletic directors from that district were expected to meet to possibly determine 14-5A’s top three seeds from the league without going through multiple playoff games.
Westwood, Round Rock and Leander were expected to be tied for the top after Friday’s games.
Temple (10-19, 5-7) moves into the postseason as the No. 4 seed and could play Round Rock. Both Blackburn and Temple coach Steve Prentiss have stated they would prefer a three-game series against their respective bi-district opponents.
On Friday there was still the business of closing the book on the regular season, and both teams could take some positives before heading to the next level.
“I felt like 1 through 9 we hit the ball as well as we have in weeks,” said Prentiss, whose team banged out nine hits. “That’s encouraging going into the playoffs.”
Pitcher Jenna Roach went 4 2/3 innings to get the win, with Brynne Steger closing out the final frames. Elisa Espinoza went four innings in the loss and Perri Jimenez pitched the last two.
For a time, the Tem-Cats were almost matching the Lady Tigers shot for shot. A pair of third-inning runs tied the game 3-3. Belton added one to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Then the fourth came and the Lady Tigers unloaded, slugging their way to a six runs to go up 10-3. It was an inning that saw Brianna Bozon sock a two-run triple to right field and unassuming second baseman Warehime yank a three-run blast over the center-field wall. It was Warehime’s first homer of the year and third of her career.
“She’s 105 pounds soaking wet,” Blackburn said. “Her swing has been there all year. We just moved her off the plate. She has quick hands and can do that.”
Belton came up just short of the 10-run rule in the fifth, adding two more on a pair of run-scoring doubles by Bozon and Kalee Young to make it 12-3.
Temple bounced back with four straight hits in the sixth to net three runs. Kacie Easley, Clarissa Villanueva, Emily Vickery and Jimenez smacked consecutive singles to keep the Tem-Cats alive. Vickery mashed a shot off the center-field fence to score Easley. Villanueva and Vickery scored on Jimenez’s hit and error in center to cut the lead to 12-6.
Belton added two more in the sixth when Sierra Cosper bounced a hit through the middle to drive home Cat Curry and Warehime.
Eight of the Lady Tigers’ 14 runs came with two outs.
“We must have scored 150 runs with two outs this year,” Blackburn said. “I don’t know how we do that. It seems like when one hits it just starts a chain reaction.”
Temple got on the board first when Jordan Valentin doubled home Kaci Scott for a 1-0 start.
The Lady Tigers ran off three runs in the first - all with two outs. Courtney Crossley doubled in Bozon and Kalee Young courtesy runner Megan Surovik and scored herself when Curry reached on an error.
Temple tied it in the third when Valentin stroked a two-run triple to bring in Espinoza and Brynn Maxfield. Curry put the Lady Tigers up 4-3 with an single to center to score Surovik.
Six Lady Tigers - Victoria Alcozer, Bozon, Young, Crossley, Curry and Warehime - had two hits apiece. Valentin and Easley both had two hits for Temple and Valentin drove in three.
“We had a makeshift lineup,” said Prentiss, who made several defensive switches to compensate for the loss of first baseman Lauren Guevara. She fractured her thumb Tuesday against Bryan but could be ready for the playoffs. “I’m proud of the way we played. We’re looking forward to the playoffs.”
Belton will travel to Waco Midway for a warmup game at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Lady Tigers overcame defensive sloppiness with offense.
“We hit the ball well. Our defense was not pretty,” Blackburn said. “If we outhit the other team we will usually win. I wouldn’t call that a pretty win, but we looked good at the plate."
twaits@temple-telegram.com
