SMHS SOFTBALL
The Rattlers comeback attempt fell short against Hays County rival Buda Johnson as San Marcos lost 17-9 to the Jaguars.
The Rattlers drop their overall record to 10-12-1 and their district record to 1-5.
“We played five innings of really tough ball,” Head Coach Cathy Stoughton said. “[Buda Johnson] has a really strong lineup offensively, and they’ve been scoring a lot of runs. After about five innings, they made adjustments, started timing the pitching and they started getting hits. Hitting is contagious. Work in a few errors here and there to extend the innings, and they just really hit the ball.”
Despite the loss, Stoughton was still proud of the team, particularly on the offensive side of the ball after scoring only one run against the Jaguars in their first district game of the season.
“Tonight we really broke through offensively, and I’m proud of the kids for that,” Stoughton said. “We had ten hits, and we got the bunt down. It’s hard to score nine and lose, but when you’re playing like that, you can’t make any mistakes and give away runs. … I’m proud of how they played like we did for the most part. We had some amazing outfield play, and we did some great things in the Infield.”
The Rattlers struck first in their first at-bat when Arianna Flores hit an RBI single to put San Marcos up 1-0. In the second inning the Rattlers struck again when Emory Cisneros laid down a sacrifice bunt to score another run and extend the lead to 2-0.
Buda Johnson scored their first run of the game in the fourth inning on an RBI double to cut the lead down to 2-1 but the Rattler offense kept up aggressive batting.
Facing bases loaded with two outs, Flores struck again, hitting a two-run double off a Johnson error and extending the lead to 4-1. Flores crossed home plate when Mel Longoria hit an RBI single to make it a 5-1 Rattler lead.
Unfortunately for the Rattlers, it marked the last time San Marcos held the lead.
Buda Johnson came roaring back, scoring nine runs in the sixth inning and later seven runs in the seventh inning to take a commanding 17-5 lead, scoring 16 unanswered runs.
Despite trailing under a large deficit, the Rattlers were not about to give up. With runners on first and second with two outs, Longoria connected with another RBI single, cutting the Johnson lead down to 17-6.
Loading the bases after a Selena Silva single, Cisneros hit a single into left field that caused a Buda Johnson fielding error. The error allowed Cisneros to advance all the way to third while clearing the bases, making it a 17-9 game.
The comeback fell short on a dropped third strike, allowing Johnson to come away with the win at 17--9.
San Marcos will look to bounce Friday on the road against Clemens. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
