Sep 08, 2010
No. 5 state-ranked Lady Oilers sweep Clements
May 11, 2010
PEARLAND - Facing one of the top pitchers in the state, Pearland coach Laneigh Clark knew that this was going to be a major showdown as to whether the Lady Oilers can make a drive deep in the playoffs like they did last year. And it doesn't get much deeper than playing for the 5A state championship.
Clements pitcher Liz Paul entered the best-of-three series with the top pitching record (28-4) and top strikeout leader (349), but someone forgot to tell the Lady O's that they should be intimidated.
Instead, Pearland sent in the pitching circle junior All-State pitcher Jessica Bowden who went the distance in blanking the Lady Rangers 4-0 to pick up the initial win in the series.
Despite Paul's gaudy numbers, Pearland head coach reminded her girls they were the team to beat. They were the defending Class 5A Region III champions and the trip to Austin must go through Pearland.
Pearland got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second inning when Paul offered up a 1-0 changeup to senior Jacyln Bechtle who wasn't fooled. With perfect timing, Bechtle stood in the box, waited for the slow floater to come across the plate,and the airmailed the ball over the left field wall for a home run for a 1-0 lead.. It would be a pitch that Paul wouldn't offer to Bechtle again for the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, Bowden had the Lady Rangers eating out of her hand limiting Clements to only four hits for the game and allowing runners to reach second base only twice.
In the top of the sixth, Pearland added another run when Lauren Langner hit a double down the left field line. The left fielder took her eyes off the grounder and allowed the ball to skip over her glove.
The fiesty second baseman shot out of the batter's box and never slowed down as she rounded the bases in record time that brought the cheering crowd to their feet for Langner and a 2-0 lead.
Pearland added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh for a 4-0 advantage and Paul and her teammates were toast in the first game of the best-of-three series.
Pearland 4 - Clements 2
The Clements Lady Rangers came out with a little more fire against the Pearland Lady Oilers in the second game of their best-of-three series knowing their season was on the line.
On the other hand, the Lady O's came out a little sluggish that saw Clements take advantage of two errors in the top of the first inning for a quick 1-0 lead.
Pearland was lucky to get out of the frame trailing by one run as Clements left a runner on base and had one runner was cut down at the plate.
Clements added another run in the top of the fourth when Darby Rosen doubled and scored on another double by Hannah Dowell for a 2-0 lead.
Pearland pitcher Jessica Bowden, who won the first game of the series, was in the pitching circle in the second game and head coach Laneigh Clark could see that Clements, who is a good hitting team, was setting their radar on her pitches.
The experienced Clark knew that a change was in order and junior righthander Brooke DuBois was inserted in the top of the fourth with two outs and promptly got the third out.
The bottom of the fourth saw the Lady O's explode for five hits and three runs to take the 3-2 lead for good.
Chelsea Bennett, Sara Clements, and Jessica Bowden hit three consecutive singles to load the bases.
That's when senior Megan Coronado delivered a clutch single for the fourth straight hit to left to plate Bennett to cut the lead to 2-1.
Left fielder Leandra Maly then stepped in to stoke a two-run single to right center for the 3-2 lead.
“Leandra’s hit was huge for us,” Clark said. “She battled at the plate, and came through when we needed it. I told all of our players to reflect back on last year when we were down and to believe in one another. It was that belief in each other that took us to the state finals."
While DuBois, who picked up the win, was shutting out the Lady Rangers, Pearland added an much needed insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Coronado (2-for-2) singled, moved to second on a sacrifice by Maley, and then stole third and scored on a wild throw by the catcher giving Pearland the final 4-2 win.
“It’s nice to win in a sweep,” Clark said. “I hope it gives these girls a lot of confidence. Sometimes I don’t know if they know how good these teams are that they beat. I’m glad my pitchers have an extra day off, and we can all relax until our series against Deer Park.”
The Lady Oiler move on to the 5A Region III quarterfinals to face district foe Deer Park in a one-game showdown on Friday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the Dawson HS softball field on Cullen.