Wells' pitching, break-through 6th inning key Coahoma's Game 1 win over Holliday

When Holliday had an answer Thursday, Coahoma came up with a better one.

Holliday scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to cut Coahoma's lead to 2-1 but left two runners on base.

The Bulldogettes shrugged it off, immediately loading the bases and pushing three runs across the plate. Pitcher Hannah Wells sat down Holliday 1-2-3 in the seventh, securing a 5-1 victory, and Coahoma took a 1-0 lead in the Region I-3A championship series at Abilene Christian University's Poly Wells Field.

The winner advances to the state tournament next week.

Coahoma, a traditional West Texas powerhouse, has not been to the state tournament since 2008. But this team is one win away.

Holliday was there last year.

The series resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday, back at Poly Wells. Game 3 would follow, if needed.

Coahoma coach Alex Orosco said it was important Thursday that his batters have confidence.

"They were confident," Orosco said. "There's a fine line between confident and cocky. The girls were confident, and it just builds from one girl to another."

So while his team was prepared for this series and adjustments were made during the game to counter Holliday pitcher Addison Lindemann, it was that confidence that made the difference.

Ahead 2-1, Coahoma loaded the bases with a single by Karleigh Burt, Wells reaching on an error and a bunt single by Avery Rodriguez.

The Bulldogettes hadn't hade a big hit since Madison Rodgers' leadoff home run in the first. They finally got another from Brynn Rodgers, who tripled to the left-center field fence, chasing in all three runners.

The four-run lead was more than enough for Wells.

"That was huge. We knew (Holliday) was going to fight, they pushed. Good teams push, and we were prepared for it," Orsoco said. "But the biggest message to us is that when they push, let's keep our momentum up. Let's keep our confidence up. And the girls did that."

For Holliday, Lindemann was up to the challenge. She settled in after giving up Madison Rodgers homer and a run in the second, aided by an error. Then came Brynn Rodgers' triple that separated the two teams on the scoreboard.

"You can't give a good team, on the last week of school, Memorial (Day) weekend, extra outs," Holliday coach Billy Arbogast said. "They make you pay for the extra outs. It's hard to score runs at the very end because every pitcher's probably good and every defense is probably good.

"Today, we misplayed a couple of balls and had some missed throws that gave them an extra 60 feet, and that changes situations."

Coahoma had four hits but turned those into five runs.

A big hit was Madison Rodgers' home run in the Bulldogettes' first at-bat.

Rodgers has been the lead-off hitter for four years, Orosco said.

"That was big, but that is in her wheelhouse," he said.

Wells fanned 13 and allowed one hit, an infield single to Evelyn Perkins with one out in the sixth. Perkins was bunted over to second and when Sydney Linn struck out swinging at a high pitch, came around to score her teams' first run.

However, it was her team's last run despite Wells hitting LIndemann with a pitch. Kinley Marek grounded out to second to end the inning.

"Her misses are good misses. When she hits her spots, she's tough to deal with," Arbogast said of Wells. "When she misses her spots, she's really tough to deal with."

On paper, this looked to be a stellar matchup. Coahoma came in ranked No. 5 in the state with a 30-4-1 record while Holliday was No. 6 at 32-2.

Holliday's only loses were to Wylie, which bowed out of the Class 5A playoffs last weekend, and to Class 2A defending state champion Stamford, which will be back in Austin next week. After losing to Stamford, Holliday won 10 straight games by shutout.

Coahoma, meanwhile, dropped three of its first seven games but has not lost since a 4-3 setback to Lubbock-Cooper, a Class 5A school.

Last year, Holliday lost Game 1 in the region title series but then came back to beat Jacksboro to get to the state tourney. The Lady Eagles lost 9-3 to Diboll in the semifinals.

"We just have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow, get in practice before graduation and then come back here and try to get two," Arbogast said.

Coahoma just needs one win.

"The job's not done," Orosco said. "But it's huge in that it's a step closer. Winning 14 innings is going to be tough."

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. 

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Pitching, big 6th inning key Coahoma's Game 1 win over Holliday