Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Softball: Creekview takes Game 1, but not series against McKinney
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
PLANO--An error on a routine fly ball Friday in Game 1 of McKinney's bi-district playoff series against Carrollton Creekview made all the difference in a matchup that featured dominant pitching and hesitant bats.
With two outs in the top of the fourth, the Lionettes misplayed a ball in the outfield to prolong the inning and allow the Lady Mustangs to plate three runs and take a 3-0 lead. That margin held up behind the pitching of lefty Alex Lewis, who shut out McKinney to give Creekview the advantage in the teams' best-of-3 series.
"All year long we've kind of struggled a little bit out in the outfield," said Jeremy Greenway, McKinney head softball coach. "It showed in Game 1 tonight. We just have to make those routine plays. That would have been the third out and they wouldn't have had the chance to punch in anymore that inning."
Lewis struck out 11 and worked a complete-game shutout from the circle, allowing just four hits.
The Lionettes didn't pick up an extra-base hit until the bottom of the seventh when Thomas tried to spark a rally with a lead-off triple. McKinney had runners on the corners after senior Lauren McQuestion drew a one-out walk, but Lewis returned to form to end the game on a strikeout and ground ball.
"You can't get up there and not be disciplined against her," Greenway said.
The Lionettes lineup improved as the game progressed, culminating in that final inning of work. They worked the count against Lewis, getting ahead in back-to-back at-bats after Thomas' triple, but weren't able to come up with the key hit needed to extend the game.
"It helps when you have a big hitter that does what she's supposed to right there and gets a big hit," Greenway said. "Those kinds of things are contagious. We got a walk and put the ball in play a little bit in that last inning."
Along with providing McKinney's best hit of the night, Thomas pitched a strong game, striking out eight, hitting a batter and giving up five hits in seven innings of work. All of the Lady Mustangs' runs were unearned.
"[Thomas] pitched well, like she has for us all year," Greenway said. "They did a good job of adjusting to her rise ball a little bit and really, a team hasn't done that all year. Tomorrow we'll have to try and make it look a little better."
Friday's win was the third straight for the Lady Mustangs (20-8, 11-3 in District 9-4A), who resumed their series with McKinney on Saturday at Plano West (results not available at press time). Creekview entered the playoffs after closing its district campaign with dominant wins against Frisco, 13-3, and Carrollton Newman Smith, 7-0.
McKinney (18-15, 10-4 in District 10-4A) snapped a four-game winning streak with its loss to Creekview. The Lionettes ended the regular season on a strong note by routing McKinney North, 5-0; Richardson Pearce, 13-0; Wylie East, 11-1; and Highland Park, 7-1.
Errors cost the Lionettes in their final district loss too, as they had 12 in an 8-2 loss to Rockwall on April 5.
A loss to Creekview on Saturday would mark the second first-round exit for McKinney in as many years. Last year, the Lionettes fell behind Frisco Centennial in a best-of-3 series before rallying in Game 2 to force the deciding contest, which they lost 7-0.
"We'll definitely have to be a little 10-second Sam, forget about it and come back tomorrow to work a little harder than we did today," Greenway said.
Forget about it they did as the Lady Lions rallied to take Game 2 Saturday, 2-1, before closing out the Lady Mustangs in the rubber game later that day, 6-2.
"We played pretty well on Friday," said Julie Fennell, Creekview coach. "Alex did a good job of keeping McKinney off-balance. We were also pretty sharp in the field in and did a good job with timely hitting.
"On Saturday, Alex threw pretty well and we did OK in the field again, but we just couldn't get the hit when we needed it. We had a lot of opportunities and just didn't get it done and McKinney did."
Creekview's lack of timely hitting was compounded by the Lady Mustangs' inability to get bunts down, which would have made getting base hits less critical."
Lewis started both games for Creekview, allowing four hits in Game 2 and eight hits in Game 3, while Creekview posted six and seven hits, respectively.
"[Lewis] held up pretty well," Fennell said. "Her back had tightened up a little in the past couple weeks and she actually got hit in the back with a ball too. But she did well, it's just tough to go out there and continue to pitch well and put up zeros when you aren't getting much help from the offense."
While Creekview's season ends in disappointment, the Lady Mustangs have plenty of positives to take away from a season in which second in district and will only graduate three seniors.
"We played a lot of very good games this year," Fennell said. "It's hard to make as many improvements as we did. But we're still a very young team and have lots things we can learn from and areas we can improve on."
-Justin Thomas contributed to this story
Baseball: Creekview faces Highland Park in first round
Creekview's baseball team closed the regular season out on a positive note Friday as the Mustangs completed the season sweep of Newman Smith with an 8-1 victory.
The Mustangs (9-5) finish as the No. 3 seed in District 9-4A behind Frisco Wakeland (14-0) and Centennial (10-4) and will be in the postseason for the second consecutive season. Last year, Creekview topped McKinney in three games in the bi-district round before being eliminated in three games in the area round by Hillcrest.
The Mustangs open the playoffs with a one-game series in the bi-district round at 7:30 p.m. against Highland Park from QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie.
The Scots (11-4) finished second in District 10-4A and did not face Creekview during the regular season.
-Justin Thomas
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Carrollton Creekview «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
