Muenster ends Lipan's softball playoff run

BOYD — The Lipan softball season ended Monday at Boyd High School as the Lady Indians were unable to overcome Muenster despite outhitting the Lady Hornets in an 8-4 area-round playoff loss.

The Lady Indians (11-14) pounded out nine hits to Muenster's seven, but Lipan's defense played out of sync and committed eight errors, while the Lady Hornets (14-5) were flawless in the field.

"We had them on the ropes a couple of times. We had the bases loaded and just one out, and we only get one run out of that," Lipan coach Tony Phillips said. "Early in the game, we had that three-run inning, and we had another chance after that, and we didn't take advantage of it.”

Those runs came in the top of the second inning off a colossal double from Dawson Oliver, who drove in Jolee Tuggle, Paxton Murry, and Savannah Green as Lipan took a 3-0 lead.

"I thought Neali (Overton) did a really great job pitching for us," Phillips said. "She really kept them off balance. I would have to look back, but I think six of those plays should have been outs in that big five-run inning.”

Those five runs came in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Lady Hornets took advantage of a bevy of mistakes by the Lady Indians to take a 7-3 lead.

"It was great for us to win a bi-district championship again, and that's a step in a positive direction for us," Phillips said. "This was a very competitive series for us even though we went down 2-0, so it's a step in the right direction."

Overton stayed focused despite the defensive errors behind her as she struck out five and issued just one walk and allowed just one earned run. Of the 92 pitches she threw, 63 went into the strike zone.

"We have some young kids coming up, and hopefully, we will find some more help for Neali. If we had another fresh arm, we might have been able to pull this out," Phillips said.

Tuggle led all batters as she went 4-for-4 and had the Lady Indians' fourth RBI. Overton was 2-for-3 at the plate, and Oliver, Ashlyn Clark and Paxton Murry had one hit each.

Muenster has the luxury of switching out its pitching look, and after left-hander Kennedy Schroeder went four innings and gave up eight hits, she gave way to righty Brooke Tyler.

The new look played into Muenster's favor as the Lady Indians got only one more hit over the final three innings.

"I had seen the righty (Tyler) pitch earlier, and I didn't think she had that much movement on the ball, so I do think that seeing the lefty as much as we did affected us when they made the switch."

Russell@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066 ext. 231