The Devine Arabians participated in the Fredericksburg softball tournament Feb. 23-25, and went 4-1 to claim 2nd place against stiff Hill Country competition.
“The Fredericksburg tournament went really good,” Head Coach Mark Mangold said. “We played great in all but one game, and it cost us a first place finish.”
Kerrville Tivy
Devine started the tournament with a 4-0 win over Kerrville Tivy on Thursday, Feb. 23.
The Arabians’ first run came in the 2nd inning. Amanda Wilson singled to left field, Brooklyn Anderson and Kim Freeman drew walks to load the bases, and Julie Ortiz followed with another walk that forced Wilson in for a 1-0 lead.
Devine added their final three runs in the 3rd inning. Korin Stehle led off the inning with a single, and Jaylyn Stewart reached on a bunt. Wilson smacked a one-out single to drive in Stehle, and Kendall Arche reached base on an error by Tivy’s second baseman that allowed Stewart to score. Freeman followed with a single to right field that knocked in Wilson to put the Arabians up 4-0.
Batting: Taylor Carr 1-3; Stehle 1-2; Stewart 1-3; Brittany Jay 0-2; Wilson 2-2; Anderson 0-1; Arche 0-2; Freeman 1-1; Ortiz 0-1.
Pitching: Wilson 4.0 IP, 3 hits, 5 strikeouts.
Floresville
The Arabians collected 11 hits to beat Floresville 6-2 in their second game of the day.
Devine jumped on Floresville immediately, scoring three runs in the 1st inning. Carr and Stehle led off with back-to-back singles, and Wilson drove in both with a two-out double to left field. Wilson herself scored on Anderson’s single to right field.
Three more runs followed in the fourth inning, and while Floresville plated two in their half of the inning thanks to a two-run home run, Devine held them off the rest of the way for the win.
Batting: Carr 2-3; Stehle 2-3; Stewart 1-3; Jay 2-3; Wilson 2-3; Anderson 1-3; Jessie Ramirez 0-3; Freeman 0-2; Ortiz 1-2.
Pitching: Wilson 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts.
La Vernia
Devine’s first loss of the tournament came on Friday, Feb. 24, in a 7-3 loss to La Vernia.
La Vernia jumped on Devine right away, taking advantage of five Arabian errors to score three runs in the 1st inning and four more in the 2nd for a 7-0 lead.
All of the Arabians’ runs came in the 3rd inning. Ortiz walked and scored on a double by Stehle. Jay singled, and Stehle later scored on a fielder’s choice by Stewart. Freeman also scored.
Batting: Carr 1-3; Ortiz 0-1; Stehle 1-2; Jay 1-2; Stewart 1-2; Wilson 1-2; Anderson 1-2; Arche 0-2; Freeman 0-1; Ramirez 0-1.
Eagle Pass Winn
Devine bounced back later on Friday with a 5-3 win over Eagle Pass Winn.
Eagle Pass led off the game with a home run, and added another run in the 2nd inning to take a 2-0 lead.
The Arabians got one back in their half of the 2nd inning. Anderson drew a walk to start things off, Freeman doubled, and Ortiz singled to drive in Anderson.
Two more runs came in the 3rd inning. Stewart reached on an error, Jay walked, Freeman knocked in both with another double to give Devine a 3-2 lead.
Two singles helped Eagle Pass plate another run in the 4th inning to tie the game, but the Arabians responded immediately with two runs of their own to win 5-3.
Batting: Carr 0-3; Stehle 1-3; Stewart 0-3; Jay 1-2; Wilson 0-3; Freeman 2-3; Ramirez 1-2; Ortiz 1-2; Arche 1-2.
Llano
The Arabian offense exploded for 15 hits en route to a 16-3 win over Llano.
Carr led off with a walk, scoring on Stewart’s one-out single. Wilson singled with two outs to drive in Steward for a quick 2-0 lead.
Devine scored two more runs in the 2nd inning. Freeman reached on an error, scoring on Ramirez’s one-out double. Ramirez later came around to score.
A big 3rd inning put the game away. Jay reached on an error to start things off, and Wilson and Anderson followed with back-to-back singles. Freeman reached on an error that allowed Jay to score, and Arche’s single knocked in both Wilson and Anderson. Ortiz drove in Arche with a two-out single, then stole second base to get into scoring position herself. Stewart drove her in with a single, Jay singled, and Wilson doubled to drive in both for a commanding 13-0 lead.
All three of Llano’s run came in the 3rd inning, off of two doubles and a single.
Devine added three insurance runs in the 4th inning.
Batting: Carr 1-4; Ortiz 1-3; Stewart 3-4; Jay 2-4; Wilson 4-4; Anderson 1-4; Freeman 0-3; Arche 2-3; Ramirez 1-3.
Pitching: Carr 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts.
Fredericksburg
Devine’s final game of the tournament came against host Fredericksburg on Saturday, Feb. 25. Between hot bats and another strong pitching performance, the Arabians won 10-3 to claim 2nd place in the tournament.
Leadoff hitter Carr got Devine started off on the right foot with a single. Ortiz followed with another single, and Stewart drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Jay drove in Carr and Ortiz with a single, and Wilson knocked in Stewart with a single to right field for a 3-0 lead. Anderson singled in Jay, Freeman reached on a one-out error, and Ramirez singled in Anderson and Freeman for a 6-0 lead.
Fredericksburg scored in their half of the 1st inning on a solo home run.
Two more runs came for the Arabians in the 2nd inning. Jay drew a two-out walk and scored on Wilson’s single to left field, and Anderson singled to drive in Wilson for a 8-1 lead.
Devine’s final runs of the game came in the 3rd inning. Ramirez singled, Carr reached on a sacrifice bunt, and Jay hit a two-out single to knock both in to put Devine up 10-1.
Batting: Carr 2-3; Ortiz 1-2; Stewart 0-2; Jay 2-2; Wilson 2-3; Anderson 2-3; Freeman 0-2; Arche 0-3; Ramirez 2-3.
Pitching: Wilson 4.0 IP, 9 hits, 3 strikeouts.
“We have been able to continue with our offense being productive and our defense has been for the most part solid,” Coach Mangold said. “We had an opportunity to play some small ball and it went great–beat out bunts for base hits, moved runners into scoring position, and had the opposing defense guessing. I like what I have seen this season from all areas of our team, and hopefully we will continue to get better as the season progresses.”
Upcoming games
The Arabians will have played Jourdanton on press night, and will play in the Blanco tournament Thursday, March 2 through Saturday, March 4.
By Marly Davis
Staff Writer