Published: May 05, 2008 12:27 pm         

Lady Bulldogs fall in area title series opener

By Craig Holamon
sports@mineralwellsindex.com

BURLESON — It’s always good to be good but sometimes good luck can be pretty hard to come by.

On Friday, if it hadn’t been for bad breaks the Millsap Lady Bulldogs softball team would not have had any breaks at all.

The Maypearl Lady Panthers broke up a close game with a sixth-inning rally and took a 5-1 win over the Millsap Lady Bulldogs in the opening game of a Class 2A area championship series in Burleson.

Millsap head softball coach Louie Chapman said her team’s luck didn’t run very high.

“I don’t think we get any breaks,” the Millsap coach understated.

The Millsap softball coach said her team planned to bounce back in Saturday’s series finale.

“We’re not going to change a thing,” Chapman said.

Millsap got a bad break in the top of the first inning when a collision on the base paths sidelined shortstop and leadoff hitter Brooke Walraven.

Walraven limped off the field and left the game after she tagged Maypearl’s Ryann Jones out on a stolen base attempt.

Marcanne Barnes moved from centerfield to shortstop while Catie Massie replaced Walraven in Millsap’s batting order.

Millsap took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Millsap second baseman Malayna Alleman got on base on an error, moved from first to third on a single by losing pitcher Brittany Cain and scored on a RBI ground out by Tabatha Brummett.

Maypearl tied the game with an unearned run in the third.

The Lady Panthers blew the game open with a three-run rally in the sixth and completed the scoring with a run in the seventh.

Cain went the distance and gave up five runs on seven hits and three errors.

Cain, who had seven strike outs and two walks in seven innings, allowed three earned runs.

Brittany Wilder went the distance in the circle for Maypearl and picked up the win. Wilder gave up an unearned run on six hits and had seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Alleman led Millsap at the plate with two hits in two at bats.

Cain, Marcanne Barnes, Whitney Lusk and Katelyn Bailey added singles for the Lady Bulldogs.

The win gave Maypearl a 1-0 series lead and moved the Lady Panthers to 17-4 on the season. The loss left Millsap at 20-8 on the year.

Notes ... The series was completed on Saturday.

Maypearl 5, Millsap 1

Maypearl 001 003 1 — 5 6 2

Millsap 100 000 0 — 1 6 3

Pitchers/catchers: Maypearl Brittany Wilder (WP) and Emily Taylor; Millsap Brittany Cain (LP) and Kaity Chesnut. 2B Maypearl Kirbie Day. 3B Maypearl Ryann Jones. Maypearl record 17-4. Millsap record 20-8.