Lady Bobcats win battle with Buna

The Orangefield Lady Bobcats battled with the Buna Lady Cougars on Monday night. The Lady Bobcats got strong pitching and some timely hitting to beat Buna 4-3 in Orangefield at Paul Cormier Field.

The win improved Orangefield to 5-1 in District 22-3A. The first half of district action concludes on Friday.

Junior pitcher Abigail Curphey was a primary reason for the Lady Bobcats prevailing in the game. Curphey pitched seven innings to get the win yielding only four hits, walking one, and striking out four.

Buna scored an unearned run in the first inning. The Lady Cougars actually did not even get a ball out of the infield in the inning.

Orangefield almost matched that run in the bottom of the first as Aubree Beck reached second on a single and a stolen base. Harleigh Rawls was robbed of probably extra bases and a run batted in by the Buna right fielder who made a sensational running catch of Rawls' line drive near the fence.

In the second inning the Lady Bobcats had runners at second and third with one out. Again Orangefield could not get either runner home.

The top of the batting order came through for Orangefield in the third. Hallee Becker singled to center to start the inning. Beck hit a fly ball to center field that was dropped on which Becker raced to second base just beating the throw to avoid the force out.

Rawls singled to center with Becker holding at third until the throw in got by the Buna catcher and Hallee hustled home to tie the game. Charlee Sanches singled to drive in Beck with the go ahead run.

Emily Meyers reached base for the second of three times in the game with a single to keep the rally going. Rawls scored on a passed ball and Curphey singled to drive home Sanches with the fourth run of the inning to give Orangefield a 4-1 lead.

Curphey made the lead stand up despite allowing two runs in the seventh. She fielded a dribbler in front of the plate and threw to Sanches coming over to cover first to end the game with the tying run at second base.

Orangefield Coach Rebekah Ragsdale complimented the effort by Curphey. "Curphey has been a workhorse for us and we've been able to give her a little rest last week getting ready for the second half of district. Considering she had not thrown much in the last week I thought she looked pretty good. Abigail really didn't miss too much, and she's been super consistent. She's a difference maker for us," Ragsdale concluded.

The Lady Bobcats rebounded from their only district loss with two decisive wins the week of March 14-18. The Lady Bobcats shutout the East Chamber Lady Bucs in five innings 12-0 in Winnie and then pummeled the Warren Lady Warriors 16-1 at Paul Cormier Field in Orangefield on Saturday, March 18.

Freshman Charlee Sanches got the win in the circle against East Chambers. Sanches struck out five Lady Bucs in five innings and gave up just three hits.

Nine different Lady Bobcats contributed to the twelve runs produced. Aubree Beck, Emily Meyers, and Paris Becker each had two hits and accounted for three runs apiece either scored or driven in.

Saturday's game only went three innings for Orangefield. The Lady Bobcats scored three runs in the first inning starting with a homerun by Aubree Beck. Harleigh Rawls and Charlee Sanches scored the other two runs after being hit by a pitch and walking. Emily Meyers and Paris Becker had runs batted in.

Warren loaded the bases with one out in the second inning which caused Orangefield Coach Rebekah Ragsdale to relieve Sanches in the circle with Abigail Curphey. The Lady Warriors got a single to score one run, but Paris Becker made a beautiful running catch of a line drive to left field to prevent possibly two more runs scoring and ended the inning with the Lady Bobcats up 3-1.

The Lady Bobcats poured it on in the bottom half of the inning scoring seven runs. Meyers had the big blow with a three-run double down the right field line that made the score 9-1 before Emily scored herself on a sacrifice fly by Becker.

Orangefield finished the deal tallying six more runs in the third. Rawls hit a two-run homer and Rylee Dougay drove in the last run with a sacrifice fly that invoked the fifteen-run rule after three innings.

Curphey finished the win in the circle for the Lady Bobcats. Abigail threw an inning and two-thirds allowing one hit, one walk, with one strikeout.

The next game for Orangefield is Friday at Hardin. The Lady Bobcats start a three game road trip that also include games at Kountze and Anahuac.