Lady Apaches hold off Yoakum

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Shayla Simper knew it.

If she could catch a line drive hit toward her at third base, the Gonzales softball team would hang on to beat rival Yoakum. Simper leaped up and made the catch for the final out of the contest to clinch a 7-6 victory for the Lady Apaches over the Lady Bulldogs in the District 28-3A opener for both teams Monday at the Gonzales Softball Field.

“That ball was hit right to me,” Simper said. “I told myself if I made the catch we would win. After I caught it, I knew we had just beaten Yoakum.”

Gonzales (9-3, 1-0 in 28-3A) defeated Yoakum for the first time since 2005. The Lady Apaches and Lady Bulldogs squared off in a best-of-three region quarterfinal series where Gonzales won Game 2, but Yoakum claimed Games 1 and 3 to win the series, 2-1.

“This was an amazing win,” senior left fielder Jessica Cantu said. “It’s a big accomplishment to finally beat Yoakum.”

Cantu played a role in the victory as well. She delivered with a full-count, two-run single to give her team a 7-5 lead after six innings of play.

“I was nervous because I had an 0-2 count,” Cantu said. “But my coaches kept encouraging me. I found a pitch I liked so I swung and made contact.”

The game itself was a competitive and heated affair in which both teams’ head coaches were asked at one point during the contest to watch the duration of it in the dugout. Yoakum coach Scott Mann was asked to retreat to the dugout after the fourth inning, while Gonzales skipper Holly Long was asked to retreat after the top of the sixth.

“There were bad calls on both ends, but we kept fighting and never gave up,” Long said. “This is a huge win for us. We let people know that this is the new Gonzales, and we expect to win every time we take the field.”

After one inning of play, it was apparent that the game was not going to be a pitcher’s duel as the Lady Bulldogs led 3-2 heading into the second. Yoakum scored three runs in the top of the first before the Lady Apaches added two in the bottom of the frame.

In the bottom of the first, Carly Bozka and Morgan Simper both drew walks before Shayla Simper drove both players across the plate with a double. The score remained the same until the bottom of the fourth.

Jerika Vega hit a triple before scoring the tying run on an outfield error, which also allowed Sibil Philippus to reach second. Philippus scored the go-ahead run on another outfield error to give Gonzales a 4-3 lead after four innings of play.

The score remained the same until the top of the sixth when the Lady Bulldogs scored two runs to rally for a 5-4 lead. Shayla Simper led off the bottom of the sixth with a single before scoring the tying run on a Philippus double.

Cassidy LaFleur recorded a single to move Philippus to third and stole second during Cantu’s final at-bat. After picking up an 0-2 count, Cantu drew three consecutive balls to draw the count full before hitting a foul ball and following up with a single to left field to score both Philippus and LaFleur for a 7-5 Lady Apaches’ lead.

Yoakum did not go away, however, as the Lady Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the seventh, and put runners on first and second with two outs. But Simper snagged a line drive to third in midair to help Gonzales snap a 12-game skid against the Lady Bulldogs.

Philippus was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI, while Shayla Simper was 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of RBIs. Lindsey Akers struck out four batters to pick up the win in the circle.

The Lady Apaches host Cuero at 7 p.m. today in another 28-3A contest.

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