In fact, it was a Friday afternoon that both the Temple and Belton softball teams would just as soon put behind them.
Temple did come away with a solid 5-3 victory over Hutto in a morning contest, but all the momentum of recent contests dried up against Gatesville, which scored a five-inning 11-0 win over the Tem-Cats late in the afternoon.
It wasn’t any better for the Lady Tigers, who lost back-to-back afternoon games - a 6-0 whitewash to Class 3A No. 4 Celina and a 6-4 defeat to Cedar Park Vista Ridge.
Temple strung together 10 hits and got inside-the-park home runs from Emily Vickery and Perri Jimenez to overcome the Lady Hippos. Elisa Espinoza hurled a four-hitter in going the distance for the win.
Courtney Truelove, Kacie Easley, Lauren Guevara and Jimenez accounted for two hits apiece to keep the Tem-Cats rolling. Hutto led 1-0 going into the fourth inning, but the Tem-Cats picked up a pair of runs in the fourth, another in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Against Gatesville, the Tem-Cats could not solve Lady Hornet pitcher Emily Leib. Easley managed to fist a single into right in the first to account for the only Tem-Cat hit of the game. She also drew a walk in the fourth to provide the only imperfection on Leib’s docket.
In the meantime, Leib also hit an inside-the-park home run as part of the Lady Hornets’ 12-hit storm against Tem-Cat pitching. Jimenez pitched two innings and Espinoza went the final three for Temple.
“I didn’t get us ready to play that one and we came out flat,” said Temple coach Steve Prentiss, whose team is 3-1 in the tournament and 9-8-1 for the year. “Gatesville hit the ball well and did the things they needed to win the game. That left a bad taste in our mouths.”
The Tem-Cats have an early wakeup call with an 8 a.m. game against Wolfforth Frenship before playing Pflugerville Hendrickson at 2 p.m. on the Chisholm Trail Field No. 2.
If there was a bitter aftertaste for the Tem-Cats, it was even more rancid for the Lady Tigers.
Unbeaten Celina jumped out to a 4-0 lead through the first two innings and cruised to a 6-0 shutout as the Lady Tigers managed just two hits - from Amber Peters and Victoria Alcozer. The Lady Tigers were never in the game. Kayla Trevino started and took the loss and Allison Boston came on in relief for Belton.
Some of the offense and enthusiasm returned for the nightcap against Vista Ridge as both teams banged out nine hits. But Lady Tiger errors led to four unearned runs for Vista Ridge. Brynne Steger went the full seven in the circle for the Belton.
Belton, now 10-8 for the year, has a single game today at 2 against Forney. After an impressive 11-0 thrashing of district rival College Station A&M Consolidated on Wednesday, the Lady Tigers have found it difficult to replicate that effort. The Lady Tigers are 1-3 going into the final day of the tournament.
“We came out flat,” Belton coach Matt Blackburn said. “It’s hard to duplicate the intensity of a district rival. We have to figure out how to keep that intensity game after game after game. We’re a great team if we do that.”
twaits@temple-telegram.com
