Lady Cardinals finish district undefeated, Bobcats clinch district title

The Bridge City Lady Cardinals finished their district schedule as the undefeated District 22-4A softball champions. The Lady Cardinals concluded their regular season April 22 with a tight 3-2 win in ten innings over the third place Lumberton Lady Raiders.

The contest was the only game of the week for Bridge City. It was the second extra inning win for the Lady Cardinals (12-0) in district the other one coming in March against the Orangefield Lady Bobcats.

Bridge City pitcher Carson Fall threw another strong game with 20 strikeouts while only surrendering four hits and walking two. The Lady Cardinals got stellar defense throughout the infield with Brooklyn Droddy, Makenna Carey, Lexi Nugier and Marlie Strong making game changing plays that got the Lady Cards out of some tough situations.

Amaris Larkin had an amazing first game back from an ankle injury that had kept her out of the lineup to this point of the district games. Batting in the leadoff position Larkin had three hits, a walk, and scored the tying run for Bridge City in the seventh inning.

Lumberton took the early lead scoring two runs in the third. Lady Raider pitcher Sydnie Cline shutout Bridge City for the first six innings.

The Lady Cardinals rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh with Nicole Sasser and Larkin scoring the runs. Strong had a key hit to drive in a run.

Kaylyn Dosch played a fabulous game behind the plate and scored the winning run on a passed ball in the tenth. "Definitely not our best outing offensively, but the girls kicked it in gear and pulled out the win. Just a great night for the Lady Cardinals," Bridge City Coach Raven Harris evaluated.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears won an important game against Vidor at home on April 19 to maintain their one game lead over Lumberton. The Lady Bears won 6-3 over the Lady Pirates.

LCM got a big night from the heart of the batting order Keylie Washburn, Lexis Moss, and Ansley Moore. The three, four, and five hitters in the Lady Bear lineup accounted for five of the team's six runs.

Washburn scored the first run for LCM in the bottom of the first inning getting a two-out single followed by hits from Moss and Moore. Vidor tied the game in the second on three singles by Keaira McCurley, Brilie Cornelison, and Gracie Matherne.

In the third Washburn blasted a drive to centerfield that cleared the fence for a homerun. Cami Shugart had singled just before Washburn came to bat and courtesy runner Ava White trotted home in front of Washburn as the Lady Bears took a 3-1 lead.

The Lady Pirates answered in the fifth with Natalie Morrison starting the inning with a single to right. Vidor loaded the bases on an error and a single by Andreya Garrett.

McCurley hit a low liner that Lexis Moss caught just as it hit the dirt and got an unassisted force out at second base. Moss may have thought she had caught the ball for an out and was looking to turn it into an inning ending double play but the umpire ruled she trapped the ball and Morrison scored the Lady Pirates' second run on the play.

Washburn led off the sixth inning and got the ball rolling again with a base hit. She stole second and scored when Moss doubled to the left centerfield fence. Moore drove Moss home with the third straight hit by the Lady Bears. A third run in the inning was scored on a sacrifice fly by Shae Fontenot.

Vidor did not go home quietly in the seventh. Brooklyn Bushelle was hit by a pitch, and Garrett brought her home with a double taking third on the throw to the plate trying to get Bushelle.

McCurley bunted down the third base line where Washburn made a clean grab of the ball before throwing a bullet to first base for the second out of the inning. Garrett tried to race home, but Moss made a perfect throw to Lady Bear catcher Jillian Brown who made the tag on Garrett for a spectacular game ending double play to secure the 6-3 win.

Cami Shugart of the Lady Bears was the winning pitcher. Shugart pitched all seven innings scattering nine hits, walking two, hitting one batter, and striking out two. "If you see she gave up a few hits, but those hits were Texas Leaguers and seeing eye singles, and she really pitched well. She started a little slow came out and finished stronger," LCM Coach Dena Adkins analyzed.

Shugart upped her game the following Friday, April 22, shutting out the Orangefield Lady Bobcats and striking out eleven in the game as Little Cypress-Mauriceville won 5-0 at Orangefield. Shugart gave up only four hits, walked one, and hit a batter. Adkins commented, "Cami was lights out, she was hitting her spots great, every pitch I called she hit it, and she was fearless today on the mound. She came out in a good mood, she was ready to go, and she looked really great."

Abigail Curphey of the Lady Bobcats pitched well too. She struck out eight and walked only two.

The Lady Bears used the long ball to win the game which guaranteed a second place finish for LCM. Senior Shae Fontenot and freshman Lexis Moss hit two-run homers in the third and sixth innings respectfully. Shugart doubled to drive in Jacelyn Cook with the final run in the seventh.

Orangefield said goodbye that night to three seniors Madison Hughes, Kaelyn Hatton, and Joli Ponfick, who played their final game as Lady Bobcats. Orangefield Coach Rebekah Ragsdale reflected on her seniors. "My seniors this year were incredible. There were literally no three I would rather have as seniors on a team I considered was rebuilding. They were great leaders, they did everything day in and day out exactly how I want things. They did a great job," Ragsdale said.

The Orangefield Lady Bobcats and the West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs played an exciting game last Tuesday, April 19. The Lady Bobcats prevailed 18-13 in nine innings snapping their five game losing streak.

The contest saw great hitting nights by players on both squads. T'Era Garrett of the Lady Mustangs drove in five runs with two homeruns including a three-run blast that tied the game in the bottom of the eighth to force another inning. Orangefield had taken the lead in the top of the eighth on a Ryleigh Clarke homer. Clarke had four runs batted in during the game for the Lady Bobcats.

Two other Lady Bobcats had huge contributions. Senior Joli Ponfick reached base five times with three hits and two walks scoring five runs and driving in one. Junior Harleigh Rawls hit a double, knocked in three runs, and scored three times for Orangefield.

Ariel Farris of the Lady Mustangs scored four runs and drove in two more with a double and two walks. West Orange-Stark's Nataleigh Sims had three hits including a triple to account for five Lady Mustang runs.

The eventual game winning hit came from Rylee Dougay of the Lady Bobcats. On the night Dougay had three hits with four runs batted in with the last three coming on a bases clearing triple in the top of the ninth inning.

Sophomore pitcher Abigail Curphey got the win for Orangefield. Curphey pitched all nine innings striking out 16 Lady Mustangs on the night.

West Orange-Stark said farewell to its four seniors who were leaders for the Lady Mustangs. Laila Rhodes, Paris Overstreet, Katie Hogg, and Laila Mims played their final game at home on Seniors Night and will all be missed.

The Lady Mustangs dropped another heartbreaker to Silsbee on Friday, April 22. West Orange-Stark lost 3-2 in eight innings to the Lady Tigers.

Nataleigh Sims was brilliant in the circle for the Lady Mustangs throwing seven and two third innings giving up three earned runs, walking only two, and striking out four. It was clearly her best performance during the district games.

Ariel Farris had a big game for WOS going three for four with a double and a run scored. Other Lady Mustangs with good games were Laila Rhodes with a single and a run batted in, Paris Overstreet had a hit to drive home a run, and T'Era Garrett smashed a double and scored a run. Erika Jordan also had a hit.

Lady Mustang Coach Matt Robertson praised the Lady Mustangs' effort. "I'm extremely proud of this team, they battled their tails off the last two games, playing two extra inning ball games in a row, something we've never done in my time here. They've grown a lot and we are going to carry this feeling of playing in two close ball games into the off season and use it in 2023," Robertson concluded.

The Bridge City Lady Cards open the playoffs this week. Their first round opponent was to be determined in a one game play-in between the Livingston Lady Lions and the Hardin-Jefferson Lady Hawks. Coach Harris indicated the Lady Cardinals would play in Splendora against the winner of that game.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears in their first round playoff play the loser of a three team playoff. Huffman, Liberty, and Hamshire-Fannett were tied at the end of the district season and played this week to determine the first three seeds from District 21-4A.

The Orangefield Bobcats clinched their second straight baseball district title on Friday, April 22 with a 9-1 win over the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears. Pitcher Coop Longron got the win for the Bobcats throwing six innings before Jason Bodin came in to finish the game in the seventh.

Orangefield got things moving in the first inning with three runs when Kameryn Henderson led off the inning with single and advanced to score on two LCM errors. Tyler Shearin scored on a Kolbie Sowell groundout, and Kyle Michael scored on a Jason Bodin sacrifice fly.

The Bobcats put up three more runs in the third inning. Orangefield put the pressure on starting with a single by Macoy Marze and a sacrifice fly by Trent Eaves.

Another run was added in the fourth by the Bobcats before the Bears' Dean Reynolds homered in the sixth. Orangefield closed the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the sixth as Shearin doubled to drive in Caleb Fregia and then scored himself when Bodin drew a bases loaded walk.

Orangefield Coach Tim Erickson was happy to clinch the district championship with a win at home. "That's kind of what we challenged them with this week, not to wait until one more game to get it done, and we didn't want to be co-champions, so it was good to do it at home," Erickson exclaimed.

Earlier in the week first place Orangefield used four pitchers to throw a no-hitter against the West Orange-Stark Mustangs. The Bobcats won the game 15-0 at Ronnie Anderson Park.

Trent Eaves earned the win on the pitcher's mound for Orangefield. The lefty pitched two innings, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out six and walking one. Brycen Tait, Kolbie Sowell, and Jason Bodin worked out of the bullpen in relief for the Bobcats also not allowing a hit towards securing the five-inning victory.

After scoring a run in the first inning the Bobcats notched six runs in the top of the third. Tyler Shearin, Sowell, Brayden Babineaux, and Caleb Fregia all drove home runners in the third inning.

Kameryn Henderson had three hits, Macoy Marze and Jason Bodin also chipped in with multiple base hits for Orangefield. Shearin had three of the Bobcat's six stolen bases in the game. The Bobcats had a good night with their gloves committing no errors for the first time in their last three games.

Grayson Gregory was on the hill for West Orange-Stark to start the game. He allowed nine hits and ten runs over three and a third innings, striking out one. Derrick Williams and David Robledo entered the game as relievers throwing one inning and two-thirds of an inning respectively for the Mustangs.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears and the Vidor Pirates are battling for the fourth and final position from District 22-4A in the post season. The two teams played Tuesday, April 19, at Don Gibbens Field.

Vidor jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Reagan Weiblinger capped the rally for the Pirates with a two-run homer.

In the second inning the Bears tied the game. Gage Griffith reached base to begin the rally followed by singles from Gunner Johnson and Blaze Compton. Parker Seago walked to push Griffith home and a wild pitch scored the second Bear run. Reid Peco plated two more runs with a double to tie the score 4-4 after two.

LCM took the lead 5-4 in the third on a leadoff homerun by Dean Reynolds. Peco started the game as the Bear pitcher and was relieved by Reynolds after four innings.

Reynolds struck out the three Pirates he faced in the fifth. The sixth did not go as well. The first two Pirates reached base on a walk and single before Reynolds retired the next two batters including his fourth strikeout. Unfortunately for the Bears, an error on a ground ball opened the flood gates leading to four Vidor runs scoring in the inning giving the Pirates an 8-5 advantage.

In the seventh Landon Bailey homered to left field to increase the Vidor lead to four runs. The blow was especially significant for Bailey who was celebrating his birthday that night.

Weiblinger who was a hero early with the homerun in the first was also the pitching hero for Vidor. Weiblinger threw four shutout innings, giving up just one base hit, walking one, hitting two batters, and striking out eight Bears to earn the win for the Pirates.

The Bridge City Cardinals got another outstanding performance from pitcher Ethan Oceguera on April 22. Oceguera shut out the Lumberton Raiders 9-0 and has only given up one run in his last three starts for the Cardinals.

John Van Huis and Landon Reeves scored for Bridge City in the first inning which turned out to be all the runs Oceguera would need. Deegan King and RJ Esquivel both drove in runs. Draven Marlow had two hits and three runs batted in for the Cardinals.

Bridge City (6-4) trailed Silsbee (7-3) by one game for second place with two games remaining for both teams. The Cardinals play West Orange-Stark and LCM this week. The Tigers play the Bears and Vidor in their final two games.

The district's fourth seed and final playoff position with one week left in the schedule had Little Cypress-Mauriceville (5-5) in the lead. If the Bears can beat either Silsbee or Bridge City they will clinch at least a tie for fourth place.

Vidor (4-6) is a game back of LCM, but the Pirates finish their season with Orangefield and Silsbee. Lumberton (4-7) has the better chance to catch the Bears as their only remaining game is against the winless West Orange-Stark Mustangs who lost on Friday 16-0 to Silsbee.