“All I asked them to do today was keep it clean and that’s what they did,” said Lady Lions head coach Cherita Munguia. “They were locked in and focused, I could see it in their eyes, I knew we were about to be fierce. It was different pitching than what we’re used to, and it would take a minute to adjust, but we stayed torqued, we stayed together, and we made it our mission to get home base runners.”
The Lady Lions (16-11) pushed three runs across the plate against Lake View (12-14-1) in the top of the first inning, five more in the second, and two each in the third and fourth frames for the dozen-run cushion.
In the circle, Allen recorded 12 strikeouts and three walks – two in the first inning and one in the fifth – as at one point she retired 10 Lake View batters in a row.
“Kaydence and Chloe (Walls) were a show tonight,” Munguia said of her pitcher and catcher. “We weren’t throwing fastballs. We were out there working on her arsenal and she was going deep. She had additional speed and was hitting spots using spin, and that’s been a struggle all season. There’s been times when she got into trouble and we had to rely on the fastball, but we didn’t do that tonight. And Chloe did a good job playing within the umpire’s zone and framing pitches.”
The Lady Lions offense finished with nine hits, drew six walks and was aided by four Lake View errors.
Leadoff batter and center fielder Jennifer Romero led the charge on offense with four hits, four runs scored and an RBI.
“She did something different every time,” Munguia said of Romero. “She laid down a bunt like I asked her to, she was slapping and the last one was flat footed that she ripped. She went through her entire arsenal and was calm and collected. I knew she was going to be the person to get us started tonight. Without her, we don’t have that fire tonight.”
Along with Romero, Walls, Allen, Carlee Burks, Lila Mares and Jakayla Peek each contributed a hit apiece. Burks and Peek finished with two RBIs apiece while Mares, Allen and Maitlyn Esquivel also tallied an RBI each. Burks scored three runs, Walls crossed the plate twice and Nevaeh Perez also scored two times after reaching on a walk and error.
The Lady Lions were without Hanah Campos, due to a passing in the family, and Tynlea Wilson, who was competing in the FFA state competition. Brownwood, however, expects to be back at full strength for Game 2 of the series at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lady Lion Field with Game 3, if needed, to follow afterward.
