Lady Bucks lose heartbreaker to Lady Jackrabbits

The Lady Bucks allowed one to slip through their fingers to the Bowie Lady Jackrabbits 6-7 last Tuesday. The Lady Bucks had blanked out the Lady Jackrabbits in the first and second innings and the fifth through the seventh innings, but it was what happened in the third and fourth innings that counted. The Lady Bucks gathered two runs in the second, two more in the third, another one in the fourth inning and one more in the sixth inning, but were one shy by the end of the seventh inning and lost by the one run when it was all said and done.

It was the five runs that Bowie pounded out in the third inning and adding two more in the fourth, which was just enough to beat the Lady Bucks 6-7.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Lady Bucks squeezed out two runs. Caroline Turner #7 hit a single line drive to right field to get to first base safely. Haigen Thompson #10 went in as a ‘courtesy runner’ for Turner. Emma Beauchamp #1 singled on a bunt to the third baseman and Thompson advanced to second base. Next, Jenna Stewart #9 hit a high fly ball out to right field, which was caught for the out and the runners stayed in place. Then, Chloe Whitmire #2 slammed a solid, line drive to right field for a triple, which cleared the bases and two runs were scored by Thompson and Beauchamp and the LAdy Bucks were in the lead, (2- 0), with one out. Ryleigh Cowan #12 was up next and she earned a walk. She was followed by Reagan Jenson #8 who struck out for the second out of the inning, Whitmire was at 3rd and Cowan had stolen to 2nd. Next, Carlee Stewart #6 earned a walk with runners at second and third. Unfortunately, Brittney Melton #3 grounded out to first base for the third out. The Lady Bucks led, (2-0) and left the runners stranded.

The top of the third inning was a disaster for the Lady Bucks. It started out well with Turner getting a strikeout from the first batter. However, two errors and a passed ball aided the Lady Jackrabbits to collect five runs in the second inning.

The Lady Bucks were now behind, (2-5). They did add two more runs in the bottom of the third with a hard-hit line drive from the shortstop, Elena Arellano #11, to left field for a base hit. Next, Turner grounded out to the second baseman, but advanced Arellano to 2nd. Beauchamp got a walk followed by a hard-hit grounder by Jenna Stewart #9, who made it safely to first, with an error by the second baseman. Arellano advanced to third and Beauchamp was standing on second, with one out in the inning. Whitmire earned a walk, which allowed Arellano to score. Beauchamp advanced to 3rd and J. Stewart was on 2nd. Cowan also earned a walk and Beauchamp was in to score on a wild pitch to make it (4-5). J. Stewart advanced to third and Whitmire went to second as Jenson came to the plate. Unfortunately, Jenson struck out swinging and the runners remained on base, which were loaded with green. Next, C. Stewart also grounded out to third and the Lady Bucks left the inning with two more runs, trailing by one, (4-5).

The Lady Jackrabbits collected two more runs with the help of three errors made by the Lady Bucks in the top of the fourth inning from Cowan in left field, Whitmire at third base and J. Stewart in right field, to make it (4-7).

The Lady Bucks were only able to muster up one run in the bottom of the 4th inning. Brittney Melton #3 hit a line drive to left field for a triple to get things started. Next, Arellano earned a walk, which was followed by Turner and a strikeout for her. Then there was a wild pitch which allowed B. Melton to score and Arellano to advance to second base. Unfortunately, R. Melton struck out, which was followed by a walk earned by J. Stewart. Eugenia Duran #13 had gone in for shortstop, Elena Arellano, who was on 2nd base. Whitmire struck out for the third out of the inning and left two runners stranded once more. The Lady Bucks were now trailing by two with the score, (5-7).

In the next inning, Chloe Whitmire struck out two batters and the infield took care of the third out. Some other adjustments had been made by Coach Kelly with Turner to third and Shaedon Grenko to first base.

The Lady Bucks could not come up with any runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to erase the two-run deficit and the score remained (5-7).

The Lady Bucks centerfielder committed another error by a wild throw into the infield and allowed the Lady Jackrabbit to advance to 2nd. Fortunately, Whitmire was able to strike out the next three batters and the inning was over with no damage and the score remained (5-7).

The Lady Bucks were running out of opportunities to score some runs to pull out a win. B. Melton was up first and hit a popup out to left field, which was caught for the first out. Arellano singled on a hard-hit grounder to left field and she landed safely on first. Cara Schkade #13 went in for Elena Arellano, who was attempting to play with an injury and it finally caught up with her. Turner grounded out into a fielder’s choice to the 2nd baseman and Schkade was out attempting to advance to 2nd base. Next, Melton earned a walk. Haigen Thompson went in for Turner and quickly stole 2nd base. After the steal, the Lady Jackrabbits had a full infield conference on the mound to determine strategy. J. Stewart wasted no time and hit a hard grounder through the shortstop and her error allowed Thompson to score and Melton advanced to third base. Unfortunately, Whitmire struck out and left the goahead runs on base. The Lady Bucks were now only one run behind at (6-7). So far, the Lady Bucks had left 10 runners stranded on the bases.

In the top of the seventh inning, Coach Kelly made some defensive adjustments by moving B. Melton to shortstop, J. Stewart to second base, Cara Schkade to centerfield and R. Melton to right field. With those adjustments, the Lady Bucks took care of business by keeping the Lady Jackrabbits from getting another run and Whitmire added another strikeout in her short appearance on the mound.

Now it was up to the Lady Bucks’ bats in the bottom of the seventh inning to take charge and get the two runs needed to win the game. Unfortunately, the Lady Bucks couldn’t put the plan into action. Cowan popped up into foul territory and the catcher proceeded to grab it for the first out. Next, Grenko grounded to third and the throw to first was made in time for the second out. C. Stewart proceeded to hit a hard line drive into right field which was handled for the third out of the inning and the game was over. The Lady Bucks lost another close ball game (6-7) and fell to sixth place in District 7-3A, with Nocona on the bottom at (0- 4) and our next opponent.

Jacksboro is in first with no losses and Holliday is second with a (2-1) record followed by City View, Henrietta and Bowie.

The Lady Bucks won’t play again until April 9, when they host Holliday at home.