Rouse, Elgin, Liberty Hill produce big district softball victories in Austin area
Rouse and Elgin both produced big wins in Austin-area softball action last week, as Elgin pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 1-0 and hand Georgetown its first district loss while red-hot Rouse battered district-leading Liberty Hill 10-2.
Liberty Hill responded impressively, however, as the Panthers pounded out four home runs, including a grand slam by Cadence Wiese, to beat Leander 10-8. Bella Nicholson, Skylar Strable and Makayla Mendoza also homered.
Around the area
Round Rock pounded McNeil 13-3 and Vandegrift 15-1 as Brantley Lavas improved to .562 on the season with a five-hit week. The Dragons and Vista Ridge, which battered Stony Point 13-2 and Manor 15-0, are tied for second place behind Cedar Ridge, which won twice, including a 15-3 win over Vandegrift after beating Manor 11-2.
The second-ranked Raiders got a complete game three-hitter in the circle from Nicole McCann as Caitlin Benningfield ripped three hits, including a pair of triples, and Gabriella Zulfekar added two triples. In the Vandegrift win, Kendall Ward fanned five in earning the pitching victory while collecting three hits at the plate herself, Tyra Thompson added a three-run home run and both Benningfield and Zulfekar collected three hits.
Dripping springs won twice, beating Bowie for a season sweep 7-4 and then outlasting Johnson 9-8 in eight innings. The Tigers moved back into a game out of first place in district by scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth which completed a 2-0 week after Dripping Springs had beaten Bowie 7-4 on Tuesday. In the Johnson win, Dripping Springs was led by Lorelei Gamble, who smacked three doubles and drove in a pair of runs. ... Bowie's Kate Bookidis notched her 100th strikeout in the loss to Dripping Springs. Anya German had three hits, including a home run, for Bowie, which responded with a 16-1 win over Austin High.
Navarro is 6-1 in district play with six of its starters hitting at least .500. In other action, Stony Point beat Westwood 12-5 while Lockhart beat Cedar Park 5-4 and Hays edged Glenn 6-5.
Crockett blasted Travis 17-2 in three innings while LASA trounced McCallum 16-1 and Eastside Early College outscored Northeast Early College 21-11.
Hyde Park cliched its TAPPS district title with a dominating 11-2 win over Victoria St. Joseph’s, marking win No. 107 for the Panthers' seniors as a class. Skye Perez hit a home run while Taylor Haywood earned her 18th win by striking out 13.
Rouse is on a roll, gets honored
Team of the week: Rouse. The Raiders beat state-ranked and district front-runner Liberty Hill 10-2 at home. Blakely Barber pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts. Ciana Arguijo went 3-for-3 at the plate and Delaney Vannoy went 3-for-4 with a home run. Staying hot, Rouse then beat Lehman 12-0 as Madi George had four hits, including a home run, and Barber struck out seven in four innings.
Fab Fives
Class 6A
1. Cedar Ridge 23-1
2. Lake Travis 18-10
3. Vista Ridge 19-6
4. Dripping Springs 19-11
5. Bowie 19-7
Class 5A
1. Liberty Hill 17-4
2. Georgetown 24-7
3. Elgin 16-7
4. Glenn 19-10
5. LASA 14-7
Class 4A/others
1. Hyde Park 25-4
2. Llano 17-2
3. Burnet 13-8-1
4. Gateway College Prep 17-6-2
5. Johnson City 17-5-1
Tuesday's top games
Del Valle at Lake Travis, 7 p.m.
Glenn at Leander, 7 p.m.
Hendrickson at Georgetown, 7 p.m.
Lockhart at Rouse, 7 p.m.
Taylor at La Grange, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: High school softball heats up in season's second half of district play
