The Blanco softball team went 5-0 last week in its own tournament to claim the championship trophy.
The Lady Panthers faced Marion, John Paul, San Antonio Christian, Lytle and Canyon Lake during the three-day tournament went undefeated. Other teams who played in the tournament were Natalia and Comfort. The Lady Panthers are 10-2 on the season.
Last Thursday, Blanco outscored Marion 7-6 to get its first win of the tournament. Morgan Clark pitched five innings, struck out one and gave up five hits. Kynlee Hernandez led the team at the plate by going two-fortwo with two doubles and two RBI. Landry Meyer was two-for-three with a single, a home run, one RBI and three runs scored. Candice Lopez went two-for-three with a single, a double and one RBI. Celeste Ledesma hit a double and had one RBI. Mariah Newsome hit a single and had one RBI. Meyer had one stolen base.
The Lady Panthers played back-to-back games Thursday morning and defeated John Paul 16-3. Kinley Boyd pitched two and two-thirds innings for the win. Boyd faced 14 batters and gave up one hit. Clark pitched one and one-third innings, struck out one and did not give up a hit.
Maddy Lopez went threefor- three with one single, two doubles and four RBI. Hernandez hit three-forthree with one single, two doubles and three runs scored. Ledesma was twofor- two with a single, a double and four RBI. Newsome hit two doubles. Meyer, Boyd and Candice Lopez each hit two singles. Candice Lopez had two stolen bases.
Blanco played one game on Friday with a 6-1 win over San Antonio Christian. Clark took the win in the circle as she struck out three and gave up six hits over five innings. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when Maddie Hunter scored on a sacrifice fly by Candice Lopez. The team scored five runs in the fourth inning to increase their lead. Candice Lopez was two-for-two at the plate with a single, a double, a sacrifice fly and four RBI. Newsome, Meyer and Ledesma each hit a single. Hunter had two walks, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
The Lady Panthers held off Lytle to win 11-10 in their first game Saturday morning. Clark pitched the four-inning game as she struck out five and gave up nine hits. Hunter was twofor- two at the plate with two singles, a walk, three runs scored and three stolen bases. Boyd went two-for-two with two singles. Meyer was two-for-three with a triple, a home run and four RBI. Hernandez was two-forthree with a single, a home run and three RBI. Candice Lopez, Maddy Lopez and Ledesma each hit two singles. Newsome and Avery Flack each hit a single.
Blanco and Canyon Lake clashed in a game that turned out to be the championship game mid-day on Saturday. The Lady Hawks scored two runs in the top of the first inning. The Lady Panthers scored one run in the bottom of the first inning. Blanco held off the Lady Hawks in the second inning while adding five runs to lead 6-2 after two. Canyon Lake scored three runs in the top of the third inning to close the gap to 6-5. The Lady Hawks did not score in the fourth inning and time expired in the game. Blanco closed the game out with good pitching and good defense.
Ledesma went two-fortwo with a single, a home run and three RBI. Hunter was one-for-one with a triple, two walks and three runs scored. Candice Lopez hit a double with three RBI. Maddy Lopez and Meyer each hit a single.
Blanco won the tournament and Canyon Lake was the runner-up. The Lady Panthers played Canyon Lake Tuesday, March 4 in a rematch. Blanco hosts Wimberley on Friday.
