May 13, 2011

The Hallsville Ladycats (29-6) defeated Ennis in the Area Championship and advance to the Region 2 Quarterfinals in a 2 of 3 series. Game 1 will be played Thursday, May 12 in Waxahachie at 7:30 pm. against the No. 1 ranked Elgin Ladycats (32-5). Game 2 will also be played in Waxahachie on Saturday, May 14 at 5:00 p.m. with game 3 to follow 30 minutes later if needed.


from Longview new Journal staff

Coaches

Hallsville: Pat Eitel

Elgin: Amanda Wolf

Keep an eye on

Hallsville: Sara Matthews hit her ninth home run of the season, drove in two runs and drew a pair of intentional walks in Hallsville’s 5-0 win over Ennis in Game 1 of their area series, which Hallsville won 2-1 ... Lakin Kerby doubled and drove in two runs in the opening game of the Ennis series. She added a two-run home run in third game ... Kaci Jackson tripled in a run in Game 2 of the Ennis series. She was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI in the deciding game ... Jamie Allred pitched all three games against Ennis and is 21-4 on the season ... Allred fanned six with no walks and two hits allowed in the opener of the Ennis series. She truck out seven with three walks, three hit batsmen and six hits allowed in the second game. Allred punched out six with no walks and seven hits allowed in the deciding game. Allred was also 3-for-4 at the plate in the final game ... Carli Cooper had two hits and Brooklyn Greene doubled in the third game against Ennis.

Elgin: Lauren Slatten (17-3, 0.73 ERA, 150 strikeouts, 34 walks, 133 1/3 IP) ... Sarah Johnson (15-2, 0.65 ERA, 144 strikeouts, 7 walks, 117 IP) ... Kaci Olson (.328, 10 RBIs, 14 SB) ... Kelsey Markham (.333, 6 HR, 20 RBIs, 15 SB) ... Shelbi Swenson (.320, 2 HR, 31 RBIs) ... Hillary Adams (.379, 3 HR, 28 RBIs) ... Bailey Alanis (.437, 16 RBIs).

How they got here

Hallsville: Def. Mount Pleasant (10-0) in bi-district; Def. Ennis (5-0, 2-3, 5-3) in area

Elgin: Def. Waxahachie (5-0, 6-0) in bi-district; Def. Sulphur Springs (4-3, 8-2 in area

Did you know?: Eitel’s career coaching record is 153-51-8, all at Hallsville ... Allred is 38-7 inside the circle over the past two seasons ... This marks the second year in a row Hallsville has faced the No. 1 ranked team in the playoffs. A year ago, the Ladycats took on top-ranked and unbeaten Frisco Wakeland in the regional semifinals, losing the best-of-three series two games to one ... Adams hit a grand slam in Elgin’s first playoff win over Waxahachie ... Slatten and Johnson both worked shutouts in Elgin’s first playoff series against Waxahachie, with Johnson fanning nine and Slatten punching out six.

Up next: The winner of this series will face either Frisco Centennial or Rockwall next week in the regional semifinals.
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The Hallsville Bobcats (24-6) advance to the Class 4A Area Championship game after defeating Denison in the first round. The Bobcats will play Forney Jackrabbits (21-13) in game 1 to be held in Forney Thursday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. Game 2 is scheduled in Hallsville at 1:00 p.m. with game 3 to follow if needed

from Longview News Journal, Gabriel Brooks

HALLSVILLE — Four consecutive one-out hits in the first inning were a harbinger for Hallsville’s lineup Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats produced six extra-base hits and scored eight fourth-inning runs to eliminate Denison 13-3 in a Class 4A Region II bi-district baseball series.

Hallsville (24-6), which won the series 2-0 thanks to a 9-5 Game 1 win, advances to a Region II area series against Forney. Game 1 is 7 p.m. Thursday at Forney (21-13). Game 2 is 1 p.m. Saturday at Hallsville (Game 3 to follow, if necessary).

The top five hitters in Hallsville’s lineup had two hits apiece as the Bobcats amassed 12 total. Ronnie Gideon was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, including a two-run, line-drive home run — his 10th of the year — he sent to left-center field in the bottom of the fourth. Brandon Denton flexed his muscles in the first when he lifted an opposite-field, three-run homer that carried over the right-field wall and put the Bobcats up 4-1. Denton was 2-for-4 and scored twice, while leadoff hitter J.C. Daily went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Justin Wingfield was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs, and Blaise Warrick went 2-for-3 with a double.

“As long as it wasn’t one of those games where it was just right at people, I thought we could scored some runs, and it kind of paid off that way today,” said Hallsville head coach Scott Mitchell. “We’ve hit well the entire year. This is the best offensive group I’ve ever had, and they go up there expecting to hit.”

Hallsville also got production from the latter portion of its lineup. Nick Hosey walked twice, Collin Bradley singled and scored, Adam McKey doubled and scored and Pierce Pipak had two walks, an RBI and a run.

Hallsville won the game when Gideon scored on a two-out wild pitch to Nick Hosey to enact the 10-run rule in the bottom of the fifth.

Hallsville’s Connor Reich pitched all five innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked five.

Mitchell said Hallsville’s defense, which committed a lone first-inning error, has played well all season. Denton, who plays third base, made a diving stab to his left before jumping to his feet and firing a one-hopper to first for a highlight-reel play in the top of the fifth. Warrick, Hallsville’s first baseman, made a couple of nice digs to ensure groundouts.

“We play good defense, too. I think that’s been the part that’s been overshadowed,” Mitchell said. “Yeah, we score runs, but we play good defense. I was really encouraged by that.”

Hallsville led 4-1 after an inning and 4-2 entering the bottom of the fourth, when the Bobcats bombed three Denison pitchers for eight runs on five hits and five walks. Wingfield and Daily each had a two-run double to accompany Gideon’s two-run missile to left-center.

Leadoff hitter Kaleb Thomas and cleanup hitter Connor Counce had two hits apiece to account for Denison’s four. Thomas singled twice, drove in a run, scored once and walked, while Counce had a fifth-inning RBI double that hit near the “385” marker close to the top of the center-field wall.

Starting pitcher Ryan Greenwood allowed eight runs on nine hits and an error while walking three in three-plus innings for Denison (13-19). Tylor McLaren faced four batters, but did not retire any before Elder Quinones recorded all three outs in the fourth and two outs in the fifth prior to Gideon’s game-ending run.
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Hallsville High School will carry five track and field representatives to the Texas State Track meet held in Austin, Friday, May 13 and May 14.  Region 2 meet resulting in state finalists from Hallsville--Pole vault: Barrett Brock first place 15'0  Marques Hicks (defending state champion) 14'6 Heather Ballew (2010 state finalist) first place 12'0; High Jump-Darby Graff, first place 5'6, Cody Blankenship first place 6'9.