PARIS, Texas — Aubrey scored two insurance runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings and defeated Pleasant Grove, 8-4, in a Class 4A-II regional semifinal softball playoff game at Paris Chisum High School's Lady Mustang Field on Friday.
"We played hard," Lady Hawk head coach Becca Collom said. "We had some things that didn't bounce our way. We don't have any regrets, and they fought hard until the last out; that is all I could ask of them. I hated that our run ended, but there will be just one team to win state. We tip our hats to Aubrey. They got the better of us today. I am super proud of our team."
Pleasant Grove (17-11-2) starting pitcher Lexie Snyder absorbed the loss, threw seven innings, gave up eight runs on 12 hits, struck out two and walked one. Snyder had three unearned runs.
Lauren Trott, the Lady Chaps starting pitcher, earned the win, tossed seven frames, gave up four runs on eight hits, struck out three and walked one.
Aubrey took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first on two RBI singles and an RBI triple. Pleasant Grove responded.
Adi Koller singled to center and made it to third on a Chaps fielding error. Koller scored on Natalie Nickolson's fielder's choice to make it 3-1. Zoe Smith smacked a double to right center with two outs but was left stranded.
Snyder drew a walk to lead off the Hawks third, and Koller singled to right center. Koller moved up to second on the throw to third, and both runners were safe. Nickolson's fielder's choice scored the speedy Snyder to bridge the gap, 3-2. Smith grounded to the shortstop, and an error allowed Koller to score to knot the game at 3-all.
Aubrey took a 4-3 edge in the fourth after an RBI single. Once again, Pleasant Grove answered.
Hailey Allen doubled to left center and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Timia Cooks popped in an RBI double to left center with two outs to tie the game at 4-all in the fourth.
The Chaps put up two runs in the sixth on four hits and two costly Pleasant Grove errors. Aubrey extended its lead with a pair of runs in the seventh on two hits and a Hawk error. Pleasant Grove committed five errors in the game, while the Chaps had two.
