Wylie sophomore left fielder Mia Gamez makes a diving catch during a Class 6A Division I regional semifinal last Friday from Getterman Stadium in Waco. Photo by Rod Aydelotte / Waco Tribune-Herald
By David Wolman
After Conroe junior pitcher Eva Lantagne, a Duke pledge, struck out five of the first six Wylie batters she faced, the Pirates began to adjust. And when the bottom of the fifth came around, it appeared Wylie was about to score the first run of last Friday’s Class 6A Region II one-game playoff.
The Pirates had runners at first and second base with two outs. Sophomore Carlee Castanededa beat the throw to first, but freshman Ka’Dyn Allison, who attempted to score on the same play from third base, was thrown out at home plate.
That provided the game’s biggest momentum swing — but not in Wylie’s favor.
Tigers junior McKenna Griffin crushed a solo home run over the right-field wall to open the top of the sixth inning, and it was all downhill from there for the Pirates in a season-ending 16-0 loss at Baylor University’s Getterman Stadium.
Conroe added 15 more runs after Griffin’s homer as the Tigers broke open what had been a 0-0 tie through five innings.
“It was a momentum play, and it would have given us some momentum if we would have scored,” Wylie head coach Heather Damron said. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen that way. It took some momentum away and gave it to them.”
Wylie came into the game red hot on offense, having scored 47 runs over its previous four games — all wins — including 12 in a series-clinching 12-3 win over Temple in the area round.
There were several times it appeared Wylie would break through against Lantagne, but the hard-throwing right-hander turned back every Pirate scoring threat. Wylie had just four hits and struck out seven times as the Pirates were shut out for the first time all season.
“She’s the fastest pitcher that we’ve seen,” Damron said. “She’s throwing 62 to 64 miles per hour. We have zero people in our district who throw that fast. Rockwall-Heath didn’t throw that fast. Temple didn’t throw that fast. And for our hitters to adjust and strike out just two times over the last five innings, you just have to pat them on the back.”
Conroe created its own scoring opportunities, but the right arm of Wylie freshman pitcher Angel Wright, coupled with timely plays by the Pirate defense, kept the Tigers at bay — at least during the first five innings.
In the second, Wylie senior second baseman Cori Vogeley caught a line drive and threw to senior first baseman Macey Stephenson to turn a double play. Later in the inning, sophomore left fielder Mia Gamez made a diving catch. In the fourth, junior shortstop Mia Gamez reached up to snag a hard line drive.
“I’m a defensive-minded coach. I stress defense,” Damron said. “I think that it’s important, and that if we do the fundamentals right, we’ll stay in most ballgames, and we did that tonight. Honestly, in the sixth and seventh, we had some errors, but they started to hit the ball hard and into gaps.”
Moments after Conroe derailed Wylie’s scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth, Griffin’s solo shot put the Tigers on the board for a 1-0 lead.
Griffin’s home run woke up a sleeping giant.
Following a walk to senior Alissa Sneed, junior Addison Mason lined a two-run homer over the wall in center for a 3-0 Conroe lead.
The Tigers tacked on three more runs in the sixth before blowing it open with a 10-run seventh, which included a three-run home run by Lantagne and a grand slam by Sneed.
Despite the lopsided loss, it was another successful season for the Pirates, who finished with a 25-12 overall record, were co-District 9-6A champions and advanced to the third round of the playoffs.
“A lot of people didn’t think that we would do this well,” Damron said. “They didn’t think that we would be co-district champions, didn’t think that we would get out of the first round. They excelled, and we proved some people wrong and stuck together. I’m just very proud of them for that.”
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