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McKinney Boyd rallies to take down Mesquite in area round softball series
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
FRIDAY
McKinney Boyd had to dig deep on Friday night.
After a 2-0 loss to Mesquite on Thursday snapped its 17-game winning streak--one that stretched back two months to the day--the Broncos found themselves on the brink of elimination in their Class 5A best-of-3 area round series.
But with their backs against the wall, the Broncos played beyond their years, pulling out a 4-3 victory at the Mesquite Girls Softball Complex.
McKinney Boyd (28-6) followed up that momentum with a 7-3 win on Saturday to win the best-of-3 series.
"We are really excited, these were two really competitive games and I think it brought out the fire in us," McKinney Boyd head coach Maureen Fritz said. "When I talked with the team after the game (Thursday), they were ready to play another one, so I knew they would be ready to play.
"The whole atmosphere with the crowd going back and forth with their cheers, this is what the playoffs are all about and the team was excited to be a part of that."
Maddy VonHagel went 3-for-4 with two runs, including the game-winner in the top of the fifth inning when she tripled and scored when McKenna Henry's ground ball was mishandled.
That would be enough for freshman Erin Riding, who picked up her 20th win of the season. Riding gave up two runs in the first inning, but got stronger as the game progressed. She struck out eight of nine batters in the fourth through sixth innings and pitched around a leadoff runner in the seventh to secure the victory.
The end outcome should help McKinney Boyd forget about a first inning that would have haunted them if the result would have been different.
The Broncos came out swinging, as the first five batters of the game got hits. However, they came away empty in the inning.
Miranda McDonald singled to lead off and VanHagel followed with a base hit. But on the play, VanHagel was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double and McDonald was gunned at the plate in an attempt to score for a double play.
Henry, Sam Stockford and Jill Nicklas followed with singles to load the bases, but Mesquite starter Tori Bice got the next batter to pop out to escape the jam unscathed.
But despite the goose egg in the scoring column, McKinney Boyd took confidence from the inning rather than disappointment.
"Honestly, I was happy because of the way we were hitting the ball," Fritz said. "I was disappointed in us, the coaches, because we are the ones that made mistakes ... but I knew that we had made adjustments and we were hitting the ball and I knew we would get more chances."
The Skeeters got their own chance in the bottom of the inning and they did not squander it. With two outs, Bice drew a walk and Halee Pryor singled to left. Kennedy Curry and Kelsi Coleman followed with consecutive RBI singles to give Mesquite a 2-0 lead.
McKinney Boyd had gone 11 consecutive innings without scoring against Bice after the nine-inning loss on Thursday, but that came to an abrupt end in the top of the third.
McDonald reached on an error and VanHagel had an infield single to get the rally started. Henry then lined a RBI single to left, Stockford drove in run on a ground out and Jill Nicklas hit a sacrifice fly to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth, as Mesquite's Curry tripled to lead off the inning and Coleman followed with a run-scoring single to tie it at 3-3.
Riding rose to the occasion from there, striking out the side to get out of the inning, a string of dominance that would last through the final out.
All McKinney Boyd needed was one break, which they got in the top of the fifth, when VonHagel tripled and came into score the game-winning run and send the teams to Plano on Saturday with a winner-take-all game to move on to the regional quarterfinals.
"Both teams have really battled, we have both made errors, made mistakes and we have to fight through those," Fritz said. "We made adjustments tonight and we will make adjustments tomorrow, and after tonight, we are confident going forward."
THURSDAY
McKinney Boyd had won 17 consecutive games entering the series opener against Mesquite but the Skeeters were not impressed.
Tori Bice threw nine innings of shutout ball, allowing just six hits, as Mesquite pulled out a 2-0 victory at McKinney Boyd High School.
It was a pitcher's duel through eight innings between Bice and Boyd's Erin Riding, as neither allowed a run through eight innings.
The Skeeters finally broke through in the top of the ninth, as Bailey Stokes doubled in a run and Halee Pryor followed with a run-scoring base hit and that proved to be the difference.
SATURDAY
Mesquite got off to a solid start, but it was not meant to be as McKinney Boyd pulled away late for a 7-3 victory in the deciding game of a best-of-3 area round series at Plano Senior High School on Saturday.
Tori Bice belted a home run and Kennedy Curry doubled as the Skeeters stayed close early on. But the Broncos were too much in the end, as they were able to edge away in the later innings to secure the victory and move on to the next round.
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