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Lady Bulldogs take care of business, dominate Titans
By Travis Summers, MCKINNEY COURIER-GAZETTE
MCKINNEY - A tough non-district schedule prepared the McKinney North's softball for games just like this one.
Having spent the majority of its early schedule playing top-tier teams, North drew on its history of facing tough opponents and thumped Frisco Centennial, 9-1, Friday.
Many predicted the Lady Titans (7-6-2, 2-1) to be an early favorite to capture one of three playoff berths out of District 9-4A, but North (16-2-1, 3-0) easily cruised to the win behind solid performances in almost every aspect of the game.
“Our kids like hitting against that speed of pitching,” North head coach Debbie Evans said. “It's all about timing and we were right on against her tonight.”
Many of the North hitters admitted that after a month of elite opposition, the timing was perfect for a blow-out win against a tough district team.
“I think we're so used to seeing pitchers throw that fast that it's not anything different,” second baseman Lindsey Post said. “When we face slower pitchers we tend to slow our bats down and that can get us into trouble.”
Shortstop Kathy Shelton led off the Lady Bulldog offense with a single and then stole second. Post bunted safely to first and moved Shelton over to third. Two batters later, pitcher Kristen Adkins singled to right field to score Shelton and begin the avalanche of runs.
Hannah Moseley's single up the middle scored Post and Adkins later in the inning.
Moseley went 4-for-4 with four RBI and run scored in the win.
“Our goal is to score runs throughout a ballgame,” Shelton said. “We usually wait until later in the game, but coach likes it better when we start right from the beginning. So that's what we did.”
For much of the early season North has relied on the big inning to spur its offense, but against Centennial the Lady Bulldogs scored three runs in three separate innings.
“We had some kids at the plate step up for us that hadn't lately,” Evans said. “When the whole lineup is hitting like we were tonight its easy to keep the momentum going.”
In the third inning, Moseley had another 2- RBI hit, this time a double that plated Adkins and first baseman Meghan Knowles. The next batter, Katy Garvey, drove Moseley in with a triple to right to give her team a 6-0 lead.
Knowles hit a 2-run double herself in the following inning with a shot to center that scored Post and centerfielder Kelsey Schendt. After the fourth, the Lady Bulldogs held a 9-0 advantage.
The only North blemish on defense came in the sixth inning when North third baseman Ashliegh McLean sailed a throw to first base over Knowles allowing Centennial centerfielder Vee Smith to score.
At McKinney Boyd, the Lady Broncos suffered a 17-0 loss to Lake Dallas. The Lady Falcons scored 17runs on 16 hits and Boyd (2-13, 0-3) committed 13 errors. Lake Dallas pitcher Courtney Tischler was credited with the win.
McKinney High lost 6-0 at Frisco. The Lionettes (7-12,1-2) were outhit 12-2. Frisco's Kristen Rigsbee was awarded the win and Leanne Shine suffered the loss.
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