Devine pitcher Carr silences Lady Eagles bats in bi-district winFree Access


SAN ANTONIO—Sometimes in softball, slow and steady wins the race. Such seemed to be the case Thursday night.

Pleasanton coach Ronda Savage said her team could not adjust to the pitching of Devine’s Taylor Carr, whose velocity was lower than some of the hurlers the Lady Eagles saw in district play. Carr took advantage to lead the Arabians to the next round.

Carr limited Pleasanton to two hits and four total baserunners in a 3-0 bi-district win at the Frank Tejeda Sports Complex.

“[Carr] is a lot slower than we’ve seen all through district,” Savage said. “Beeville and Cuero had very fast pitchers, and Somerset—the last team in the district—they have a pretty hefty pitcher as well. We had a hard time adjusting to the slower pitcher. We popped up early. We got a few hits through there, and then she kept jamming us.”

Devine broke up a scoreless game with three runs in the seventh to take the one-game playoff, ending the Lady Eagles’ season. It was a far cry from the teams’ season opener, an 18-14 slugfest won by Pleasanton.

All three runs Thursday came with two outs after eight-hole batter Mackenzie Schneider extended the inning on a groundball single to left field. The at-bat began a string of three consecutive singles, the last of which brought in the game’s first run.

Carr had the game’s lone RBI on a hit to center field that gave the Arabians a 1-0 advantage.

Devine tacked on two more runs on a dropped pop fly in the infield. It was the only error by either team and the one blemish for the Pleasanton defense, which was led by pitcher Madison McDonald’s solid night in the circle.

The junior allowed seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

“That’s what playoffs are all about,” Savage said. “It comes down to the late innings: Who’s going to get the hit, who’s not going to make the error.”

But the Lady Eagles could not muster any offense and never reached third base. Carr retired 16 of the final 17 batters in order, allowing only one baserunner after the second inning. She finished with six strikeouts and two walks.

Pleasanton finished the season 13-13 overall. The Lady Eagles will return four starters next year.

“We battled back from numerous injuries this year,” Savage said. “…We have battled every virus there is out there, and these girls played every position that was out here. I had kids playing out of position all year long, but we kept believing and we battled back. We got ourselves here when a lot of people didn’t think we would.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *