Softball playoffs: Hebron tops South Grand Prairie to advance; Keller pulls off crazy comeback

Hebron had three in the top of the first inning with Pirrello leading off the game with an infield hit and coming home on a Cardona single to left. Molly Crowder extended Hebron’s lead to 2-0 with a sacrifice bunt to score Cardona’s courtesy runner Sydney Schellman. Buesing extended Hebron’s lead in the second with an RBI single to left.

Cardona hit her double to left-center in the fourth and Crowder followed with a two-out, RBI single to left to give Hebron a 5-0 lead. After her triple, Pirrello scored on a fielding error on a Buesing drive to left. Buesing and E.K. Hagedorn had two hits apiece for Hebron.

“We worked on faster pitches and going inside and outside. We worked longer in the cages before the game longer than what we did before,” Pirrello said. “It was also more of a mindset. We did a better job physically, but this whole game is a mental game. We did a good job staying focused.”

Nerio (15-5), took the loss, striking out eight while allowing five earned runs and one walk. A Weatherford College signee, Nerio struck out 31 batters in the series and had over 800 in her career.

Keller 6, El Paso Socorro 5: With Keller one strike from defeat, Addi Clark hit a two-run walk-off single with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to give Keller a two-game sweep of its 6A Division II area-round playoff series. The hit came on a 1-2 count and was the second two-strike hit in a row for Keller.

With Socorro leading 5-3 and one strike away from winning, Keller’s Tinslee Cribbs hit an RBI single on an 0-2 count to make it 5-4 and keep the game alive. That came after Avery Lawton walked with two outs to load the bases, the third walk of the inning.

Texas Tech signee Sydona Meiser and Landry Beaman homered for Keller (26-10-1), which had the game tied 3-3 before Socorro scored two runs in the top of the sixth.

Northwest Eaton 7, El Paso Eastlake 3: Adriana Cantu went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, and Eaton scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to break the game open en route to completing a two-game sweep of its area-round playoff series. Layla Perez earned the win for Eaton, working around five hits and six walks while allowing three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Eaton (28-9-1) advanced to play Flower Mound in the Class 6A Division I Region I semifinals. Eaton tied for third place in District 4-6A, while Flower Mound was the District 5-6A runner-up this year after reaching the Class 6A Division I state semifinals last season.

Trophy Club Byron Nelson 6, Midland 3: A four-run top of the sixth gave Byron Nelson a 6-1 lead, and it hung on to win Game 1 of a best-of-3 series.

Elle Dearing hit a three-run home run in the big sixth inning, and Kaylee Vien hit a two-run homer in the first. McKenna Cleary went 3 for 4 and scored two runs for Byron Nelson (33-4-1), and Meredith Hambric pitched a seven-hitter.

Midlothian 25, W.T. White 2: A 17-run second inning propelled Midlothian to a two-game sweep. Midlothian had 24 hits in the five-inning game, and Jocelyn Martinez homered and was 4 for 4 with four runs and six RBIs and Aniyah Givens and Aubrey Robledo combined to go 6 for 8 with six runs and seven RBIs.

Midlothian Heritage 14, Woodrow Wilson 2: Skeylah Shirley drove in three runs and Trinity Chittamai and Kenzie Vossler had three hits apiece as Midlothian Heritage won a one-game playoff. Chittamai pitched a three-hitter and struck out seven for Heritage, which trailed 2-1 before scoring 13 runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Joshua 6, Argyle 2: Isabella Lambert pitched a five-hitter and Leilanie Sam and Taylor Proffitt drove in two runs apiece as Joshua eliminated Argyle with a Game 3 win in the 5A Division II area round. Landrie Durham went 2 for 3 and scored two runs, and Joshua got all the runs it would need with a three-run bottom of the first.

Odessa 6, Keller Timber Creek 2: Tatyana Deliz hit two home runs and drove in six runs as Odessa won Game 1 of a best-of-3 series.

Ava Thomas gave Timber Creek a 1-0 lead with a solo home run leading off the top of the second, then added a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth to make it 2-0. Odessa answered with a grand slam by Deliz in the bottom of the fifth to take a two-run lead. That was just the second hit of the game for Odessa.