From staff reports
Buda —
From Staff Reports
San Marcos head softball coach Cathy Stoughton was scratching her head — or perhaps pulling her hair — after Wednesday night’s District 17-4A game against rival Hays at Lady Rebel Field.
She had just watched her Lady Rattlers suffer an uncharacteristic, 12-1, five inning loss to the Lady Rebels, a team San Marcos has experienced success against in the past.
It was the Lady Rattlers’ second straight lopsided district loss after suffering a 12-1 loss to Elgin last Friday. SMHS has now lost three consecutive district games.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Lady Rattlers, who fell behind 3-0 after two innings, then trailed 10-0 after the Lady Rebels posted seven runs in the third. Emily Opheim, Taylor McDaniel, Dani Alvarado and Hannah Ramsey each connected for doubles in the inning.
The Lady Rattler bats were baffled by Hays starter Amada Ruiz, who pitched four scoreless innings by limiting San Marcos to four hits and striking out nine.
San Marcos scored its only run in the top of the fifth when senior Jessica Villalpando scored from third after a Hays errror. But it wouldn’t be enough to keep the 10-run rule out of the picture, ending the game after four and a half innings.
With the win, the Lady Rebels are now tied for second place with Elgin in the 17-4A standings. San Marcos fell to 1-3 in district play and is in need of a win Friday night against at home Lockhart to get back into the district playoff race.
It won’t be easy, considering the Lady Lions are currently undefeated in district play.
Hays has an open date Friday but will be back in action Tuesday at home against Elgin.
