The Llano High School softball team lost to Ingram Tom Moore 8-7 April 7 in the first contest of a two-game series.
The series concludes at Llano High School at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 11.
The game went back and forth with the Lady Jackets (4-3) scoring an unearned run in the second and third innings. Freshman Emmaryee Roberson and senior Morgan Williamson each got the RBI.
Ingram (11-11, 5-2) took the lead on a three-run homer by Marley McClintock in the bottom of the third inning then added an unearned run in the fourth thanks to McClintock for a 4-2 advantage.
But Llano struck back in the fifth. Senior Lyndi Landers had a sacrifice bunt for a RBI. Williamson hit a two RBI single, while junior Savannah Gibson hit a two RBI double for a 7-4 lead.
But the Lady Warriors answered in their half of the inning. After two strikeouts, Ingram scored five runs for the 8-7 lead.
Llano's only base runner was thrown out at second when she was trying to stretch a single to a double. The Lady Jackets had a total of three batters in the inning.
The loss comes on the heels of stomping Florence 31-16 April 4 to complete the two-game sweep.
Llano led 16-15 going into the seventh inning, and the Lady Jackets ended their half of the inning by sending 17 batters, who scored 15 runs to put the game out of reach.
"They gave us a fight," head coach Tim Hulon said of the Lady Buffs. "I knew they didn't want to lose two. They always play well at home. I knew it wasn't going to be easy."
The seventh batter in the order was first to the plate in the final inning. Hulon emphasized that his approach to the batting lineup doesn't necessarily put the best batters at the top of the order.
"I'm gonna move kids around," he said "The girls bought into the idea. They step up and know to play. We exploded for 31 runs. The girls know it was a must-win game. Florence battled; they're a good team. They wanted that win."
And he believes that once one Lady Jacket gets a hit, it helps her teammates believe they can, too.
"Everything finds the gap," he said. "You're passing the bat. The girls did a great job of that."
Llano had 25 hits to Florence's eight.
Junior Emilie Clopton and senior Jayme Duroy each hit two three-run homers. Clopton ended the contest with nine RBI, while Duroy had seven.
"Jayme's first one sparked the dugout," the coach said. "It got the girls' energy up. They felt that. We had good energy. I thought that was a big spark."
