LADY CATS RUN-RULE ALPINE FOR BI-DISTRICT TITLE

The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity softball team defeated the Alpine Lady Bucks in walk-off fashion on Thursday, 14-2, in Big Spring to earn their first gold glove since 2016, capturing the 2022 Bidistrict Championship.

Head Coach Keith Logan talked about what it meant to win this gold glove, saying, “It’s Great. We felt like we should have had one last year and we let it slip away from us. Our whole game plan this season was to right that wrong and we were able to get one tonight. It felt really good to dominate towards the end of this game and not even make it a question of whether we were going to win or not.”

He added, “I’m just so proud of these girls and how they’ve committed the program and I’m thankful for all of our coaches and the community that have supported us, it was really nice to have all of that energy in the stadium tonight.”

With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 15-7 overall on the season.

Jaycee Portillo got the Lady Bucks on the bases in the top of the first inning with an infield single to shortstop, beating the throw to first from Natalia Sanchez. She took second on a pitch, before Brookelyn Gau got Sierra Maxwell-Valenzuela to strike out swinging for out number one. Jenica Portillo hit an RBI-single over first base to put Alpine in front, 1-0, and Alexis Rodriguez singled to left field to put two runners on for the Lady Bucks.

However, Brookelyn Gau would recover, as she got Nayeli Huerta-Acosta to strike out swinging and she got Elyse Ramos to pop up to Julie Rodriguez at second base to retire the side.

Littlefield wasted no time answering in the bottom half of the side, as MyKenzie Price led off with a single to left field for Littlefield. She would steal second on a pitch and third on a past ball before Cadence Sanchez drove her in with an RBI-single that fell in front of Maxwell-Valenzuela in center field to tie the game, 1-1.

Brookelyn Gau hit into a fielder’s choice to Jaycee Portillo at second base, who went the short way to second for the force out for out number one. Brookelyn Gau would steal second on a pitch and third on a ball away from the catcher, before Katelyn Gau struck out swinging for out number two. Natalia Sanchez, though, would drive her in with an RBI-double off of the base of the center-field fence to put the Lady Cats in front, 2-1. Taryn Golden grounded out to Alexis Rodriguez at shortstop to end the inning.

Brookelyn Gau made quick work of the Lady Bucks in the top of the second inning, as she got Sierra Ruckman to strike out swinging; she was thrown out at first on a dropped third strike by Kaeleigh Logan. Rikki Vega and Kiara Castillo both struck out swinging to retire the side.

The Lady Cats were unable to capitalize on the one, two, three inning, as they too went down in order in the bottom half of the side.

In the top of the third inning, Jaycee Portillo popped up to Gau in the circle for out number one and Maxwell-Valenzuela laid down a bunt that was fielded by Brookelyn Gau and thrown to first for out number two. Jenica Portillo grounded out to Natalia Sanchez to retire the side.

Price grounded out to Alexis Rodriguez at shortstop to open the bottom half of the third inning, but Cadence Sanchez singled up the middle, beating the throw to first by Alexis Rodriguez and Brookelyn Gau singled on an error by the shortstop to put runners on first and second for Littlefield with one out. The runners advanced on a past ball, before Katelyn Gau drew a walk to load the bases.

Natalia Sanchez blasted a two-RBI double over third base to extend their lead to, 4-1. Katelyn Gau got caught in a run down between third and home and was tagged out for out number two, as Natalia Sanchez advanced to third on the play. Golden drew a walk to put runners on the corners for Littlefield, but Alex Tenorio hit a shot of the pitcher’s leg that was fielded by Jaycee Portillo at second base and thrown to first for the out to end the inning.

Brookelyn Gau recorded two quick outs in the top of the fourth inning, as she got Alexis Rodriguez and Huerta-Acosta to strike out swinging. Ramos singled to right field and Ruckman hit a grounder to Tenorio at third base, who made a bad throw to first that allowed Ramos to score from first, however, Ruckman was thrown out at third by Logan to retire the side with the lead cut to, 4-2.

The Lady Cats were kept quiet in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Alex Hernandez and Julie Rodriguez both struck out and Price hit a chopper to Hannah Juett in the circle and was thrown out at first to end the inning.

Vega led off the top of the fifth for Alpine with a double over Golden in left field, but Castillo flew out to Price in center field for out number one. Jaycee Portillo laid down a bunt to put runners on the corners for Alpine, but Maxwell-Valenzuela popped up to Natalia Sanchez behind third base for out number two and Jenica Portillo hit a one-hopper to Julie Rodriguez at second base, who got the out at first to retire the side, as Alpine stranded two runners on base.

In the home-half of the fifth, Cadence Sanchez grounded out to Alexis Rodriguez at shortstop for out number one, but Brookelyn Gau doubled to left-center field and took third on a throwing error in from the outfield and scored on a throw past third base to stretch their lead to, 5-2.

Katelyn Gau chopped out to Jaycee Portillo at second base for out number two, but Natalia Sanchez ripped a stand-up triple into right-center field, however, she would be stranded on base, as Golden grounded out to Alexis Rodriguez at shortstop to end the inning.

In the top of the sixth, Brookelyn Gau got Alexis Rodriguez and Huerta-Acosta to strike out swinging for two quick outs, before Ramos singled to shallow center field to give Alpine a base runner. But, she would be left on first, as Ruckman struck out swinging to retire the side.

Tenorio had a shot fall in deep left field for a lead-off double in the bottom of the sixth and Hernandez had a pop up dropped by Juett on the third-base line, moving Tenorio to third and Hernandez to second with no outs. Arianna Cruz drew a walk to load the bases and Price followed it up with a two-RBI double that got by the center fielder on a diving attempt, making the score, 7-2.

Cadence Sanchez kept the rally going with a two-RBI double into left-center field to extend the lead to, 9-2, and Brookelyn Gau hit a shot to the left-field fence to drive in a run, but she was thrown out at third on the relay by Alpine for out number one with the score stretched to, 10-2. Katelyn Gau was hit by a pitch and Natalia Sanchez drew a walk, before Golden singled to get on base; but a throw into the dugout scored a run and moved the runners up 60- feet, making the score, 11-2. Tenorio came to the plate for the second time in the inning and blasted a three-run walk-off homerun over the left-center field fence, as Littlefield took down the #2 seed Alpine, 14-2.

Brookelyn Gau pitched a complete game for the Lady Cats, earning 10 strikeouts, while giving up just two runs.

“It feels awesome. I wanted to win a gold glove last year and we came up short, so it feels really good to get one this year,” the senior pitcher said.

The Lady Cats will take on the Bushland Lady Falcons in the Class 3A Area round of the playoffs. Time, date and place are TBA.