Lady Bison Slip to 1-1 in District Race

It's gonna be close.... It was a cross-county battle Tuesday afternoon when the Centerville Lady Tigers and the Buffalo Lady Bison matched up for a district softball contest. Much ado had been made on both sides in preparation for the contest, but from start to finish, Centerville controlled the contest, taking a 7-0 win over the Lady Bison. After a win over New Waverly, Buffalo is now 1-1 in district play. The Lady Tigers advanced to 2-0.

Centerville had first bat, and quickly took control of the game. Sophomore Becca Smith led off with a slap to short to get on board. Carrie Kelleør's sacrifice moved Smith to scoring position. Raimy Griffin nailed a single to score Smith and get the Lady Tigers on the scoreboard. Jessie Long used every inch of the field, tripling to the deep left sideline to put the Lady Tigers up 2-0. Christie Wellman's grounder down the third baseline turned into a double and scored Long. Jackie Touchette reached on an error and Wellman scored. Chelsea Birchironne picked up an RBI before the Lady Bison retired the side.

Van'Go'photos Lady Bison Jordyn Briscoe guards second base as Centerville's Becca Smith tries to slide under her tag. Senior Jami Davis led off with a walk for the Lady Bison. With two outs, Kayla Morris also walked. Both Lady Bison were stranded when a pop up ended the inning with Centerville leading 4-0.

K. Morris went to work in the second inning, fielding the first two outs. C. Keller rapped out a single to center before Jordyn Briscoe connected with Morris for the final out, stranding one.

Nikki Dorman walked in the bottom of the second. Blaize Harriman's sacrifice moved Dorman to second with two outs. Designated hitter Lindsey McGill picked up a walk, but was then thrown out on a dive back at first to end the inning.

Wellman pulled a double to left center in the third inning, but the Lady Tigers couldn't bring her home as Rachel Morris picked up her first strike out and Briscoe was deadly from short stop.

It was three up, three down for the Lady Bison in the bottom of the third as Smith struck out two and the game remained 4-0 at the end of three innings.

Catcher Jennifer Pate protects home plate for the Lady Bison as #6 starts her slide. Van'Go'photo Centerville got their lead off on base with an error to start the fourth inning and the batter advanced to third. A single behind third and short scored the run to give the Lady Tigers a 5-0 advantage. Smith tripled to left field, and scored Amber Keller to go up 6 - 0. Briscoe fielded back-to-back flies and threw out Long at first to stop the bleeding.

K. Morris walked when the Lady Bison went to bat, and stole second on a passed ball. Buffalo left her on base as the next three batters retired.

R. Morris struck out two of the three batters in the fifth and Davis caught a fly to hold the Lady Tigers at six.

Harriman got aboard on an error in the bottom of the sixth. McGill's sacrifice popped up at third for an out before Davis doubled with a grounder to center. Pate's pop up to short stop held the runners on second and third. Buffalo picked up a third out before either could score.

In the top of the seventh, Centerville got two runners on with singles and loaded the bases with an error. Dorman threw home on the force for the second >out, but another error allowed the Lady Tigers another run. Harriman caught a fly ball in center to strand three and end the inning.

BELOW: Lady Bison pitcher Rachel Morris delivers the goods -- with intimidation. Van'Go'photo With one out in the bottom of the seventh, R. Morris reached first on a Centerville error, and courtesy runner Amy Terry entered the game for the first time. Dorman doubled to center with a ground ball to put two runners in scoring position for a possible late rally. Consecutive pop ups by the Lady Bison ended the game in a Centerville victory, 7-0.

Smith was the winning pitcher for Centerville. She gave up three hits, walked five and struck out seven. Rachel Morris picked up the loss for Buffalo. The sophomore gave up ten hits, struck out five and walked none. Buffalo committed five errors in the outing while the Tigers erred only twice.