The Marcus Marauders rallied in the sixth inning, getting within one run of the Keller Indians, but it was too little, too late. They dropped game two of the regional semifinal 4-3.
The Indians tied the series, so a winner-take-all game three will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m to see who faces the Denton Guyer Wildcats, who rallied late to beat Mansfield Legacy 6-5.
Marcus head coach Christy Tumilty gave credit to Keller’s starting pitcher Avery Lawton, who shut down the Marauder offense over six innings.
She only had three strikeouts, but forced Marcus to hit the ball on the ground, leading to 15 ground outs.
“She was doing a much better job today than she started out yesterday,” said Tumilty. “So, she just had better stuff and it took us a while to make those adjustments.”
Those adjustments came in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Marcus strung together a couple hits that included a groundout from second baseman Brianna Barr that scored Karli Burgess for the Marauders’ first run.
In the sixth, Marcus started another rally when its first three hitters reached base.
Center fielder Ella McNeil led off the inning with a walk. Shortstop Emily Souders followed that up with a single that advanced McNeil to third.
Keller turned the ball over to Claire Boggs, who allowed two runners she inherited to score.
First baseman Brynnan Wilhite hit a single, scoring McNeil and sending Souders to third and making it a 4-2 ballgame. After a walk from Myleene Olguin, Burgess hit a groundball that led to an out, but scored Souders, bringing the deficit to just one run.
A pair of fly ball outs killed the Marauders’ rally, but gave them a chance in the seventh to tie or take the lead.
Marcus got out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, forcing Keller to strand a runner on third base, but couldn’t put any runs on the board in the seventh.
Keller brought Lawton back in to close out the game, setting the Marauders down in order.
However, the boost in offense gave Tumilty and the team some confidence going into game three.
“We’re feeling really good, especially how we were putting runs on the board in the sixth inning,” she said. “We were still making noise, had a lot of energy and I love how the kids are staying in it and responding as we need to.”
Marcus got into a 3-run hole after the first inning when Keller scored three runs on back-to-back home runs from Mackenna Jackson and Kaiya Fabela.
That was starter Chloe Poteete’s only inning of work. She was relieved by Bella Valdez, who kept the Marauders in the game by holding Keller to just one run through the last five innings and tallying two strikeouts.
“She did an amazing job, a really amazing job,” said Tumilty on Valdez’s performance. “Keller is a great hitting team and Bella did a great job to come in and only give up one run.”
Keller added its fourth run, and what ended up being the deciding factor, in the third inning on a triple from Carley Genzer that missed being a home run by about a foot. She scored on a Madison Eads’s triple.
The Marauders can still make the regional finals against Guyer, but it will take all three games. For now, Tumilty said the team is focused on the next day.
“Our kids are ready,” she said. “We have to get it done now, but if we can get it done here, we’re ready for whoever we have in the next round.”
The deciding game three will start at 2 p.m. at Byron Nelson’s Bobcat Stadium.
