Pflugerville moves into tie for second in 23-5A behind Delilah Robles' two-hit shutout

Butch Hart
·4 min read
Pflugerville's Lauryn Jackson scores the Panthers' first run as Elgin pitcher Jessica Cantrell can't make the tag at home plate during the Panthers' 5-0 win Tuesday night. The victory moved Pflugerville into a tie for second place in District 23-5A.
Pflugerville's Lauryn Jackson scores the Panthers' first run as Elgin pitcher Jessica Cantrell can't make the tag at home plate during the Panthers' 5-0 win Tuesday night. The victory moved Pflugerville into a tie for second place in District 23-5A.

PFLUGERVILLE — Delilah Robles fired a 14-strikeout, two-hit shutout as Pflugerville (20-6-1, 10-3) defeated visiting Elgin 5-0 to move into a tie for second place in District 23-5A.

Elgin fell to 21-10, 10-3 as both teams trail district champion Georgetown (30-4, 13-0) with one game remaining in regular-season play.

Robles was confident, dominant and in control, as usual. She never went to three balls against any hitter and has 250 strikeouts on the season with just eight walks (two intentional). The hard-throwing right-hander has a 0.58 ERA and opposing hitters are batting just .119 against her in 120⅔ innings.  Robles is 17-4 in the circle.

“Delilah is such a hard worker and a perfectionist,“ Panthers coach Matt Peterson said. “She not only competes against the opponents but strives to be better every time out. She is an outstanding player and person.”

Elgin’s standout pitcher and hitter Jessica Cantrell had doubles in the first and sixth innings as the only hitter to get good contact against Robles. Robles was ahead in the count on 23 of the 25 hitters she faced.

More: Azua powers Round Rock softball to district championship

“I really felt good from the start; it’s my senior year and this was our last regular home game, I just wanted to do my best and they beat us earlier at their place (3-1 on March 24),” Robles said. "This was a great way to finish our home regular season.”

Pflugerville used aggressive base running to scratch out runs in the third and fourth innings before adding three runs in the fifth to secure the win. Cantrell retired the first six Panthers she faced before catcher Lauryn Jackson singled to open the third. Jackson scored to make it 1-0 on a wild pitch.

Pflugerville outfielder Paige Fulgham catches a deep fly ball from an Elgin batter during Tuesday night's 5-0 win at Pflugerville High School.
Pflugerville outfielder Paige Fulgham catches a deep fly ball from an Elgin batter during Tuesday night's 5-0 win at Pflugerville High School.

McKenna Ross singled to open the Panthers' fourth inning, then stole second base. She scored when Elgin misplayed an infield ground ball. In the bottom of the fifth, Paige Fulgham singled, stole both second and third bases and then scored on a wild throw to third base during the steal attempt. Abby Nunez singled and scored on a triple by Ross, who also scored when Elgin misplayed a fly ball for the final 5-0 margin.

More: Meet the Austin Area High School Sports Award nominees for boys, girls basketball

“This was a really good win — strong opponent, home field and really sets us up going into playoffs,” Peterson said. The Panthers close out district play Friday night at Cedar Creek. Elgin finishes against Hendrickson. Should both teams win, it will be the third straight season to end district play tied.

Two years ago, Pflugerville beat Elgin in a one-game playoff for first-place seeding and last year the teams tied again with Elgin winning the coin flip for seeding.

Around the area

In other action, Dripping Springs beat Del Valle 2-0, Bowie beat Westlake 11-1 and Johnson beat Akins 7-0.  Dripping Springs and Johnson finished tied for first in 26-6A while Bowie and Del Valle finished tied for third.

In Del Valle, Dripping Springs pitcher Jordan Cox fired a nine-strikeout shutout and made the key defensive play of the game when she dove from the circle and caught an attempted base-loaded, squeeze play bunt off the bat of a Del Valle hitter, and then converted the throw to third base for an inning-ending double play.

Taylor Anderson and Kate Tressler had two hits each for Dripping Springs while Cox and outfielder Erika Kanetzky stood out on defense, making a run-saving diving catch in the outfield.

Johnson kept pace as Amia Torrez was near perfect in the circle for the Jaguars. Torrez earned the win with a complete-game, 12-strikeout performance. Kiersten Williams hit a home run for the Jaguars.

Bowie won for the ninth time in 11 games as the Bulldogs run-ruled Westlake 11-1. Cadie Hays (9-5) earned the win while Bowie got three hits from Alyssa Lusk, including a double and three RBIs; Anya German added a pair of hits, including a double, and had two RBIs. German has been intentionally walked more than a dozen times this season.

Liberty Hill, Hyde Park record shutouts

Liberty Hill won the District 25-5A championship by beating Hays 2-0. Ashleigh Heiderscheit had two hits and drove in a run for the Panthers while Molly Cochran singled twice and Rylee Slimp singled in the second run.

Hyde Park blanked TMI of San Antonio 15-0 to improve to 36-2, 10-1. Panthers pitcher Bella Milicia improved to 12-0 on the season with the complete game shutout. Brooke Magids had two hits, Olivia Villanueva drove in a pair of runs and Cariana Stout had six stolen bases.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pflugerville softball blanks Elgin behind Delilah Robles' pitching gem