Lady Lions drop Abilene Icebreaker opener to Ballinger, 4-3

February 23, 2023 at 10:32 am Derrick Stuckly

Jeniffer Romero recorded one of seven hits for Brownwood (2-2), which takes on Big Spring later today in tournament action.

ABILENE – The Brownwood Lady Lions’ rally from a three-run deficit came up short Thursday morning as they opened play in the Abilene Icebreaker tournament with a 4-3 loss to Ballinger at Kirby Field.

Trailing 1-0 after one full inning, the Lady Lions knotted the score in the top of the third inning.

Mia Lopez reached on a one-out single to left field and scored on a two-out RBI double to deep center field by Chloe Walls.

Ballinger regained a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Mika Gonzalez led off with a walk and scored on a one-out RBI single by Alexia Villarreal. Matlida Galvan followed with an RBI ground out that stretched the margin to a pair of runs. Addison Martin then chipped in an RBI single up the middle that capped the Ballinger scoring.

Brownwood closed the gap to 4-3 in the top of the fifth as Lopez led off with a double and later stole third base and came home on an errant throw. Walls then followed with a single and later scored on Cecilia Rodriguez’s two-out RBI base hit to left field. But the inning – and game – ended with runners on second and third base for the Lady Lions.

The run in the first inning for Ballinger was the result of an RBI single by Gonzalez which followed a two-out single by Jessa Battle and an error that allowed Alina Pena to prolong the inning.

Tynlea Wilson went the distance in the circle in the 4 1/2-inning time-limit contest for Brownwood, yielding four runs – one earned – on seven hits with four strikeouts, one walk and four runners left stranded. Defensively, Brownwood committed one error.

Offensively, Brownwood tallied seven hits – two each by Lopez and Walls and one apiece from Rodriguez, Wilson, and Jeniffer Romero. The Lady Lions also drew a pair of walks – by Lopez and Adriana Romero – and Mackenzie Welch was hit by a pitch. The Lady Lions finished with seven runners left on base.

The Lady Lions (2-2) will be back in tournament action later today as they tangle with Big Spring, then resume tournament action Saturday with games against Sweetwater at 10:45 a.m., Breckenridge at 2 p.m., and Snyder at 3:45 p.m.