The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Three games in to District 19-4A competition the Little Cypress Mauriceville Lady Bears are undefeated and in first place. The Lady Bears improved to 3-0 in district defeating the Lumberton Lady Raiders 12-4 on Friday, March 17 at LCM.

Little Cypress Mauriceville jumped to an 8-0 lead after three innings and led 12-2 after four. Lumberton scored two runs in the fifth inning to prevent the game being called on the ten-run rule.

The Lady Bears took the lead in the first inning on a one-out homerun by Jacelyn Cook. Keylie Washburn scored a second run on a ground out by Ava White.

Five runs came across the plate in the second for Little Cypress Mauriceville as Ansley Moore started the rally with a lead off single followed one out later with a hit by Cook and then an error by the Lady Raiders that opened the gates. Lexis Moss drove in a run with a single to right field, a double steal scored the third run, and another error brought home the last two runs of the inning.

Eden Frenzel tripled to start the third and scored on a wild pitch. Cook doubled off the left field fence and tried to score on a base hit to left by Moss but an excellent throw by the Lady Raider outfielder resulted in an out at the plate keeping the score 8-0 in favor of the Lady Bears.

Ella Stephenson pitched three shutout innings to that point for LCM. Stephenson surrendered two hits, three walks, a hit batter, and struck out three Lady Raiders to earn the win in the circle. "I was proud of Ella. She came in and did a good job working on the Lumberton hitters. Ella hit her spots pretty well and she didn't give up any runs so she did her job," Lady Bear Coach Dena Adkins reminded.

The Lady Raiders tried to battle back with two runs in the fourth inning against reliever Tessa Erickson. In the bottom half of that inning Erickson got a little pay back by homering over the left field fence that began a four-run rally which included a second double by Cook in the game.

The two Lumberton runs in the fifth extended the game to the seventh inning. Erickson found her good stuff retiring the last six Lady Raider batters in a row.

Some concern was raised though when Cook and Frenzel collided as Jacelyn caught a line drive near second base to end the game. LCM trainer Sheri Hoffpauir treated Cook on the field and in the dugout for a possible leg injury. Cook's status for the next Lady Bear game is questionable until further review by medical personnel according to Coach Adkins.

The victory has Adkins feeling good about the Lady Bears sitting in first place. "The more we win this first round will help us. Beating Bridge City was huge for us and again beating Lumberton is big. Every time we've step on the field we had to be scrappy. My girls have really stepped up and played well as a team and got it done," Adkins concluded.

Sandwiched between the opening win over the Bridge City Lady Cardinals and Friday's win against Lumberton was a good win for Little Cypress Mauriceville against the Vidor Lady Pirates on Tuesday, March 14. The Lady Bears won 14-6 at Vidor.

The newcomers to the district the Jasper Lady Bulldogs were the opponent for Little Cypress Mauriceville on Tuesday, March 21. The next game for the Lady Bears will be Friday, March 24, at home against the West Orange Stark Lady Mustangs.

Ella Stephenson pitched three shutout innings for the Lady Bears and got the win against Lumberton

Bridge City played one game this past week in addition to having its first bye of the district schedule. The Lady Cardinals rallied from an early five-run deficit to defeat the Vidor Lady Pirates 9-8 on Friday, March 17, in Bridge City.

Cambree LaComb was the winning pitcher in the game and hit a homerun. The Lady Cardinals scored two runs in the seventh inning to pull off the dramatic victory and improve their record to 2-1 in district.

This week Bridge City played at Lumberton on Tuesday. The Lady Cardinals next game is scheduled for Friday at home against the Jasper Lady Bulldogs.

The West Orange Stark Lady Mustangs had their first half bye on Friday, March 17. In their only game played last week on Tuesday, March 14, the Lady Mustangs fell 15-0 to Jasper. Silsbee and Little Cypress Mauriceville are the opponents for West Orange Stark this week.