Lady Mustangs out-hit Poth on the road

For the second time in 26-3A, the Natalia Lady Mustangs and the Poth Pirettes put on an offensive showcase during their district battle last week. There were a combined 24 hits in the contest with a combined 22 runs scored.
The good thing for the girls in blue was they finished the season sweep versus the Wilson County squad as they remained tied with Jourdanton for the 26-3A lead. This victory all but wrapped up a 26-3A Co-District title.
“We came out and put pressure on them offensively, putting the ball in play and being aggressive on the base paths,” Coach Travis Crowley said. ‘We had several chances to 10 run rule them, but couldn’t finish the job.”
Sophomore Daniella Garza got the start on the mound again for Natalia. She finished the 7.0 inning battle scattering six hits, walking three, striking out seven and giving up eight runs, three of which were earned.
Natalia came out and set the tone in the first three innings of play. The Lady Stangs scored their first run in the top of the 1st, courtesy of singles by Biviana Figueroa and JuJu Morales to take the 1-0 lead.
After allowing just one hit in the first two innings of play defensively, the girls in blue went back to work in the top of the 3rd.
Natalia busted this game open in the top of the 3rd with a total of five singles, one walk and several stolen bases to score five big runs. These singles were courtesy of Regina Garza, D. Garza, Figueroa, Caprice Sanchez and Gabby Contreras.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Natalia continued to play good defense as they used a ground out to 5, a strike out and a G4 to get out of the inning.
Natalia continued their offensive production in the top of the 4th, scoring three additional runs. These came thanks to three straight singles by D. Garza, Figueroa and Morales fueling the Lady Stangs to an 8-0 lead before Poth knew what had hit them.
The Pirettes slowly came back, starting with a run in the bottom of the 4th thanks to a pair of singles.
Natalia responded in the top of the 5th with five additional runs. These came courtesy of walks by Bryanna Perez, Gabby Sontoya and R. Garza and singles by Sanchez, Contreras and Morales. This put Natalia ahead 12-1 and the Pirettes just three outs away from being 10-run ruled.
Poth lived to see another inning, thanks to a three run 5th inning. This was the start of a good effort to rally by Poth that would fall short.
When the seven-inning battle concluded, Natalia worked past the Pirettes with a 14-8 victory.
“We have to find a way to put teams away and not allow them to hang around,” Crowley said following the victory.
At Bat: D. Garza 3-5-2RBIs-3runs scored, Felicia Guzman 1-5, Contreras 3-4-2RBIs-1run scored, Perez 0-3-2runs scored, Morales 4-5-4RBIs, R. Garza 1-4-2runs scored, Sanchez 3-4-1RBI-2runs scored, Figueroa 3-5-3runs scored and Sontoya 0-3-1run scored. Defensive Put-Outs: Figueroa 7, R. Garza 6, D. Garza 4, Contreras 2, Jasmine Gomez 1, Guzman 1.
Final Games
The Lady Mustangs were on the road on press day at Ft. Sam Houston battling Cole at 4:00 p.m.
The final regular scheduled district game will be this Friday at 7:00 p.m. versus the Brooks Academy Lady Bengals at 7:00 p.m. If Natalia wins out and Jourdanton wins out, they will be Co-District Champions. They will either flip a coin, or decide to play for seeding purposes only.
The Bi-District Playoffs will begin April 27th-30th versus either Lago Vista or Johnson City and we should know more next week.