Ladycats win 1st district game of season

The Ladycats recorded their first District 18-5A victory of the season Tuesday with a 4-2 win over the Stingarees. The Ladycats lost two games over the last two seasons and three in the last five years when it played in District 24-5A.

With the realignment moving Angleton to a new district, the Ladycats (1-2, 16-6) opened with losses to Friendswood and No. 3-ranked Santa Fe, being outscored 13-2 in those games.

It was a different story Tuesday, with the Ladycats jumping out to a 4-1 lead through the first two innings and starting pitcher Brooklynn Walton wriggling out of a few jams to come away with the much-needed victory.

“For us, it is about going in with a different mentality and knowing they have to be in from beginning to end in every single game,” Angleton coach Cindy Rubio said. “We haven’t had to do that in our district game in and game out, so I think making that adjustment has been the hardest part for us.”

That wasn’t a problem Tuesday.

Kenadie Guthrie got things going for the Ladycats with a one-out walk in the first inning. After Guthrie stole second base to get into scoring position, Grace Walker brought her home in the next at-bat with an RBI double to left field.

Mayson Garrett reached on an error, which pushed Walker to third, and Rylee Church’s RBI groundout scored Walker for a 2-0 Ladycat lead.

After Texas City (2-2, 12-6) got on board with a run in the second, the Ladycats doubled up in the bottom half.

Riley Davila began the inning with a single and stole second base. After Ary Cruz struck out and Walton flew out to center field, Lily Soliz came through with a two-out double to left field to score Davila. In the next at-bat, Guthrie’s single to right field brought Soliz home for a 4-1 lead.

With a three-run cushion, Walton handled the rest in the circle.

The sophomore worked around a leadoff single in the third inning by retiring the next three batters to end the frame, but a play in the third inning took the wind out of Texas City’s sails.

Laney Vasquez started the inning with a single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Emili Garza. Another sacrifice bunt by Abigail Agado moved Vasquez to third with two outs. Lauren Taylor beat out a chopper in front of home plate, and leadoff hitter Trinitey Spencer walked to load the bases.

Amiya Villanueva singled to plate Vasquez, closing the gap to 4-2 with Madison Carr at the plate. Walton’s 0-2 pitch got past Scott, but the catcher grabbed the ball after it bounced off the backstop and dove to home plate to place the tag on Taylor, who was looking to steal home but was called out to end the threat.

“That was huge, and it lifted us a little bit,” Rubio said. “Gabby did a good job of getting the ball and hustling back.”

A Texas City runner did not advance past second base after the play at the plate. Walton found her groove by retiring the side in order in the fifth and worked around a one-out single in the sixth inning by getting the next two batters to fly out to left field and ground out to second base.

In the seventh inning, Spencer beat out Garrett’s throw from shortstop, but Walton struck out Villaneuva, recorded a flyout and got Kassidy Dressman to harmlessly pop out to Church at first base to end the game.

Walton pitched a complete game, scattered five hits, allowed two runs, one earned, struck out three and walked one on 97 pitches.

“Brooklynn has had some good outings for us in the preseason, and going into today, I just wanted her to stay consistent,” Rubio said. “She hadn’t been on the mound in a bit, so just making sure she stayed consistent and was able to hit her location, and she did a good job with that.”

The Ladycats had other opportunities with runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings, but the four runs in the game were enough for Walton.

Guthrie finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, and Walker was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

With the top three teams record-wise out of the way, Angleton will try to build on its win from Tuesday as the Ladycats round out the first half of district play before the calendar turns to April.

“It’s been a little bit tough, and it has taken a toll on our girls with those two losses there in the beginning, so it was important for us to come out and have a strong start and a strong finish,” Rubio said.

The Ladycats are idle until March 24, when they will host La Porte.