The Lady Jackets shook off an early Lady Longhorns’ tally and battered Dobie pitching for 17 hits in a 9-1 game two romp at Bryan ISD’s Mumford High School.
The game was moved from Manvel due to heavy rains, which hit the Houston area last week.
Alvin (33-5), who collected their third straight series sweep in the playoffs, moves on to meet either Katy in the regional semifinals at a site and time to be determined later this week.
While Dobie got to Lady Jackets’ starter Jodie Aguirre for a first-inning unearned run, Alvin promptly responded with a five spot in the second and never looked back. Mary Pourcio and Evany Gonzalez both came home on a Dobie error, while Mindy Matthews delivered a two-run double and later scored on Clarissa Barron’s two bagger to make it 5-1.
Aguirre and Foster added RBI singles in the third to increase the margin to 7-1, while Matthews scored on a Lady Longhorns’ outfield miscue in the fourth and Coffelt singled home Alvin’s ninth tally in the fifth.
Aguirre scattered four hits and two walks in picking up the victory in the pitching circle. Matthews joined Barron and Victoria Valdez with three hits apiece.
In the battle of clutch seventh-inning go-ahead rallies, the Lady Jackets provided the final answer to take charge in the series opener on May 6 in Manvel.
After watching the Lady Longhorns surge ahead with a three-run uprising in the top of the seventh, the Lady Jackets responded with a four spot in the frame’s bottom half to capture a dramatic 6-5 game one thriller on May 6 in Manvel.
Dobie appeared to have game one in hand with a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh. However, the Lady Jackets quickly loaded the bases with no outs on Khori Bolton’s single, a walk to Foster and Matthews reaching first base safely on a Lady Longhorns’ error.
Shae Montemayor was retired on a liner to third base, but Barron drilled a bases-loaded triple off Dobie starter Miquela Guajardo to left field to tie it at 5. Barron then dashed home with the walk-off tally on Coffelt’s grounder.
While the ball glanced off Camryn Wincher’s glove into short center field for an error, the Lady Longhorns’ second baseman would have probably still had a hard time throwing out the speedy Barron at the plate with the play and ensuing throw having to be made on Wincher’s backhand side.
“I feel older than I am,” Alvin head coach David McCorkle joked following the game. “It was the greatest comeback of the season. We got some good ones. We have grinded all year long and proved to ourselves that we’re never out of it.
“We just got some timely hits and then got to the meat of our lineup. The seniors (Barron and Coffelt) did the job for us.”
Both teams got timely hits to get on the board in the fourth. Mikayla Gutierrez and Maritza Elizalde delivered RBI singles for Dobie, while Pouricio and Aguirre both provided run-scoring singles for Alvin.
The Lady Jackets also got runners to first and second base with one out in the fifth on singles by Foster and Montemayor, but Guajardo induced a 4-6-3 double play grounder off Barron’s bat to escape any further damage.
Dobie then regained the upper hand in the top of the seventh, thanks to Wincher’s bases-loaded walk allowing Leslie Longoria to trot home, while Karlie Barba and Gutierrez followed with back-to-back sacrifice flies to make it 5-2.
McCorkle didn’t see any panic from his team, though, heading into its final at-bat.
“The kids got in a little hump and lost the momentum, but they climbed out of it,” the Alvin coach said. “I think Jodie was affected a little bit by the (home plate) umpire calling what he normally doesn’t call. We have had him before.
“But she gained some experience, which will help. We were just lucky to get out of there with a win.”
McCorkle added that this was the first time in his 20 years of coaching that games one and two in a playoff series were played four days apart.
“STARR testing came and we went back and forth about what to do to get a series in,” he said. “We agreed on one day ... Click here to read full article
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