Lady Panthers advance to Round 4

GAME 1
Fall strikes out 14 in game one win over Liberty
By Jerry Michalsky

Bridge City sophomore Carson Fall struck out 14 and allowed just two hits. In Baytown, the Bridge City Lady Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the Class 4A Regional Quarterfinals series over Liberty Thursday night at Goose Creek Memorial High School.
Fall walked only one in the performance.
Scoreless heading into the top of the third inning, the Lady Cardinals went to work, and a run-scoring single by Makenna Carey gave Bridge City a 1-0 lead. Moments later, the Lady Cardinals pulled off a double steal to increase their advantage to 2-0.
Bridge City would add one more run in the frame and the score was 3-0.
That was more than enough for Fall, as she kept getting ahead in the count on the Liberty hitters.
The Lady Cardinals added one more run in the seventh inning for the 4-0 win.
Kamdyn Chandler pitched well for the Lady Panthers and finished the night with 11 strikeouts.
Hollie Thomas and Reese Evans had the hits for the Lady Panthers.

GAME 2
Lady Panthers shut out BC 4-0, even series at 1-1
By Jerry Michalsky

Looking for a spark after dropping game one in their Class 4A Regional Quarterfinals match-up with Bridge City, Liberty's Breezy Pantalion singled in the third inning and then promptly stole second base.
Then two pitches later, the freshman stole third and, on the play, forced an errant throw by the Lady Cardinals catcher, which allowed Pantalion to score and give the Lady Panthers their first lead of the series at 1-0.
That seemed to change the momentum as Kamdyn Chandler was cruising on the mound for Liberty. The sophomore allowed just four hits while striking out six on the night.
The Lady Panthers added to their lead in the fifth inning when Reagan Williamson launched a pitch over the left fielder's head for a double and then moved to third on a bunt by Alex Wiley.
Maci Beam then scored Williamson with a single, and Liberty led 2-0.
Bailee Slack followed with a single that moved Beam over to second.
Reese Evans then doubled, and that would score Beam for the third run of the game, and then on the play, an error allowed Slack to cross home, and the Lady Panthers had a 4-0 advantage.
Pantalion made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in the bottom of the frame and then was alert enough to throw to first for an inning-ending double play.
Chandler then induced the final Bridge City hitter to line out to center field, and Liberty had tied the series at 1-1.
Slack had two hits to lead the Lady Panthers at the plate.

GAME 3
Liberty scores in final at-bat to get past Bridge City 2-1
By Jerry Michalsky

You don't go down without a fight when you're the defending state champion.
Trailing since the third inning and down to their final at-bat, the Liberty Lady Panthers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a come from behind 2-1 win over the Bridge City Lady Cardinals in game three of the Class 4A Regional Quarterfinals on a hot Saturday afternoon at Goose Creek Memorial High School in Baytown.
"I'm proud of the way our girls fought till the end," said Liberty Head Coach Karen Slack. "It's nice to move on, but we have some things to work on before this weekend."
The Lady Panthers will next face Taylor in the Regional Semi-finals.
Trailing 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Maci Beam singled, and a Bailee Slack single would follow that up.
Reese Evans then loaded the bases with a single; with Hollie Thomas at the plate, a wild pitch by the Bridge City pitcher allowed Beam to race home and even the score at 1-apiece. Both Evans and Slack advanced to second and third, respectfully.
Still, with one out, Thomas popped up to the Lady Cardinals second baseman, and with Slack ready to tag from third base, she dropped the ball, allowing Slack to cross home with the winning run sending the Liberty crowd into a frenzy.
"I think in that final inning, our experience really showed," added Slack.
Kamdyn Chandler allowed just five hits and struck out four in getting the win on the mound. She also led the Lady Panthers at the plate with three hits.
In the third inning, Bridge City grabbed the lead with an RBI single to lead 1-0.
Carson Fall made the lead stand up until the seventh inning.
The sophomore pitcher for the Lady Cardinals struck out 6 and finished the series with 28 strikeouts.
Bridge City threatened in the fifth inning, but Thomas gunned down a runner at third for the third out of the inning.
"That picked us up and gave us some momentum,' said Slack.
Kylie Bishop, Slack, and Beam each added two hits apiece.