Although they were able to put up some decent offensive numbers, the Tem-Cats couldn’t match Bryan’s onslaught Tuesday night.
The Lady Vikings cranked out 14 hits to run away from the Tem-Cats 14-4 in a six-inning District 13-5A softball game in Temple’s final regular-season game at Tem-Cat Field.
Temple, now 10-18 overall and 5-6 in district, already had sewn up 13-5A’s fourth-place playoff spot and will close the regular season on Friday at Belton.
Bryan (20-11) finished 9-3 in district. The Lady Vikings are assured of the third playoff spot but will move into a tie for second if the Tem-Cats knock off second-place Belton.
“It was disappointing for the seniors,” Tem-Cats coach Steve Prentiss said. “We could have quit and packed it in, but the girls fought back and scored four runs in the fourth inning to make it interesting.
“One of these days we’re going to get a break,” he said.
A six-run fourth gave the Lady Vikings a commanding 7-0 lead. Bryan was coming off of a 31-0 victory over Harker Heights and still had a lot of offensive fuel in the tank.
But the Tem-Cats, who rang up a 20-0 non-district victory over Fischer Canyon Lake on Friday, also had some residual offense from which to draw.
Kacie Easley bounced a one-out single through the middle and Clarissa Villanueva followed with a walk. Emily Vickery fought off an inside pitch from reliever Courtney Ford for an RBI single to right.
Courtney Truelove lined a hit through the right side of the infield to bring in Villanueva. Vickery and Truelove both scored when third baseman Jennifer Saxby’s throw on Elisa Espinoza’s grounder skipped away from Jennifer Kasper at first to make it 7-4.
However, Temple wouldn’t make any more headway into the Bryan advantage. The Lady Vikings sent 10 batters to plate for the second straight inning to add five more runs in the fifth. Bryan picked up two more in the sixth and the Tem-Cats were unable to counter, thus invoking the 10-run mercy rule after six.
Temple threatened to extend the game in the sixth as Villanueva walked and Kaci Scott executed a bunt single to start the inning and Vickery bunted them into scoring position. But the Lady Vikings turned a double play to end the game.
Michelle Stratta pitched three shutout innings to get the win for the Lady Vikings, with Ford closing out the final three. The two combined on a five-hitter with three walks and six strikeouts. Espinoza, who was relieved for an inning by Perri Jimenez, pitched five innings in the loss.
Calli Wood went 5-for-5 for the Lady Vikings with a triple, double and two runs batted in. Stratta was 3-for-5 with three doubles and two RBI. Kristen Lara also had a three-hit night.
Temple’s Lauren Guevara was hit below the thumb on a swing attempt in the third. She left the game and her status is unknown. Vickery replaced her at first base.
“We’re all excited about being in the playoffs,” Prentiss said. “With two games left that allows us to experiment with some things and try to make a run in the playoffs. And I think we can make a run.”
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