Published: May 09, 2008 02:58 pm            

Slocum holds off Colmesneil in quarterfinals

By SALLY SEXTON

H-P Sports Writer



NACOGDOCHES — All season long, the youthful Slocum Lady Mustangs have had good games and bad games.

On Thursday night, none of that inexperience or inconsistency showed as Slocum defeated Colmesneil, 4-1, at Nacogdoches High School in the Class A-Region III quarterfinal game.

“We got the breaks and the hits when we needed to and we did what it took to win,” Slocum head coach David Ives said. “We’re growing up and it’s amazing to see it happen right in front of my eyes.”

The Lady Mustangs will play the winner of the Joaquin-Maud, which will be played at 7 p.m. tonight at Longview Pine Tree.

Slocum put its first run on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Heather Hoag reached on a walk and two batters later scored on a safety squeeze when Kelli Bowman bunted the ball down the first base line for the sacrifice and a 1-0 lead.

Colmesneil reacted with a run of its own in the same inning on three straight singles, the latter of which scored Jackie Kerr to tie the game at 1-1.

But the tie wouldn’t last long and the Lady Mustangs got the bats going again in the bottom of the fifth inning when Nicole Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice and Bowman drew a walk to put her in scoring position.

It provided Brittany Alpaugh with the opportunity for a two-out RBI single past the second baseman and the Lady Mustangs took the lead back, 2-1.

Slocum soon went up 4-1 when Shelby Stephens followed with a two-RBI single down the third base side, and the Slocum defense, led by winning pitcher Karson Salmon, took control of the rest of the game to eliminate the Lady Bulldogs.

“I’m just so excited to get to this level,” Salmon said. “I feel like we really came together and did a good job.”

The Slocum senior had seven strikeouts and seven putouts in the complete-game effort.

“I thought Karson wasn’t quite on at the beginning, but she really turned it on at the end,” Ives said. “She did a great job of shutting them down.”

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Sally Sexton can be reached via e-mail at sports2@palestineherald.com

        

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