By Jerry Michalsky
The Port Arthur News
Sat, May 17 2008
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Mont Belvieu -- After Friday's tough 1-0 loss to Brasosport in game one, Lady Bulldog head coach Sissy Yeaman gave her players some homework.
Before they boarded the bus Saturday, coach Yeaman received 14 ideas from each one of her players on assignment -- how do you want the paper to read Sunday.
With all 14 ideas posted in the Nederland dugout there is one thing for sure, and that they were all true ideas, as the Lady Bulldogs overcame adverisity and won two games in a row, by identical scores of 1-0, to take the best two-out-of-three playoff series with Brazosport at Barbers Hill high school.
"I told them last night we would be here for a while today and we were", said Yeaman.
And a while it was as the teams played for five hours and 18 innings. Game two, which was the first game on Saturday, saw the Bulldogs claim a 1-0 victory in eight innings.
Scoreless heading into the top of the eighth inning, it was Layken Richard reaching on an error. A single by Lindsey Rossi on the very next pitch had the Bulldogs in business. Jordan Bodin then brought Richard home on a sacrifice fly to get Nederland in front.
Caitlin Austin, who pitched all three games of the series and allowed only one run in 25 innings with 42 strikeouts, got Shawntall Steamer on a groundout to shortstop to even the series at one.
After both teams and the fans were given a much needed 30-minute break, they were back at it for the deciding game of the series.
Austin looked strong as ever by retiring six of the first seven batters she faced, with four of those coming via the strikeout. Nederland loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to three straight singles off the bats of Krista Mayer, Ashleigh Kuhn, and Richard. Lady Ships pitcher Laura Martinez would then get out of the jam by retiring the next two Bulldog hitters.
The play of the day came in the top of the sixth inning as Martinez lead off the frame with a single. Beatrice Gonzales then hit a liner to shortstop on which Kuhn went to the ground to snag and then three from off of her knees threw to first to double off Martinez.
Nederland (23-8-1) almost ended in the bottom of the ninth inning as Kuhn and Richard both reached base after back-to-back singles with two outs. With Kuhn standing at third base it was Martinez bearing down again and forced Rossi out on a grounder to end the inning.
Not to be denied on this night, it was the Lady Bulldogs putting the pressure back on Martinez in the next inning.
As if she had not done enough on the mound, it was Austin leading off the inning by beating out an infield hit. Pinch runner Madison Trevino was then inserted for Austin. The move paid big dividends as Trevino stole both second and third. Freshman Jordan Hightower followed by hitting a sacrifice fly to right field which easily scored Trevino for the series winning run.
The Bulldogs finished game three with 10 hits. Austin and Richard each finished with three hits apiece with Richard getting a triple and Austin
doubling in the second inning. Kuhn added two hits.
"What can I say about these ladies", said Yeaman. "They just believed in themselves and each other.
The third round opponent for Nederland will be Richmond Foster. Foster defeated Crosby 1-0 Friday night in a one game series.
"They knocked us out last year so we will be very motivated going into the matchup," added Yeaman.
Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs should like how the newspaper reads today.
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