The unranked and unheralded Kennedale Lady Kats have blasted their way to the region semifinals with a sweep last week of the top ten ranked Stephenville Honeybees in two games (4-3, 7-0). {{more:[read more]}}high hopes going up against Kennedale …
Stephenville (25-11, 5-2) had high hopes going into the region quarterfinals against Kennedale this past weekend. The Honeybees were experiencing their best season in school history. Ranked #7 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association (TGCA) poll, they had won their first ever area championship. And, now they were playing Kennedale, a team that had finished behind Alvarado in district play, the same team [Alvarado] that the Honeybees had just swept in area play (6-2, 3-1).
Lady Kat Megan Calhoun is the dfwVarsity Pitcher of the Week
Kennedale, a team with a rich playoff history, was having an off-year. The Lady Kats finished the regular season with a 12-16-1 record and in third place in district 7-4A. Unfortunately for Stephenville, Kennedale (19-16-1, 7-3) has found their game in the playoffs, thanks to some clutch hitting and a strong pitching performance from freshman Megan Calhoun.back in region play again 3rd time in 4 years …
Back again in the ?Sweet 16?, Kennedale will be playing Snyder (27-10, 10-0) in the Class 4A Region I semifinals this week at Henrietta
High School. Game one will be played Friday at 6 pm. Game two will be at 1 pm on Saturday with the third game, if needed, will immediately follow.
Game 1 – Kennedale 4, Stephenville 3 Thursday
This game was an extra inning battle that was decided in a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th by Megan Calhoun (Fr) who had just pitched nine innings for the Lady Kats.
As the winning pitcher Megan Calhoun faced 39 batters throwing 74 strikes on 111 pitches (.667), allowing 3 runs on 10 hits with 4 strikeouts, 2 walks and 20 ground/fly outs.
Julia Flores for the Honey Bees nearly matched Calhoun pitching, facing 35 Kennedale batters, she threw 72 strikes on 112 pitches (.643) allowed 4 runs on 8 hits with 6 strikeouts, 1 walk and 13 ground/fly outs.
The Lady Kats were led by {{t2:Elizabeth Schiele:}} (Sr) at the plate. Schiele went 3-4 and scored one run. She singled in the first and sixth innings and doubled in the eighth inning. {{t2:Mary Grace Howard:
}} (So) had 2 RBIs with 1 hit. Ashley McElvany (Jr) had an RBI with a hit. Also with singles were Jenna Webb (Fr) and Alyssa Bradberry (So).
Kats up 2-0 at end of third …
Stephenville spotted Kennedale a run in the 1st after allowing {{t2:Jamie Franks:
}} (Jr) to reach on an error (hardball to RF) and making it all the way to 3rd. Mary Grace Howard?s hard groundball to SS allowed Franks to scored. After going 3 and out in the first and 1 for 4 in the 2nd, Stephenville landed two on base in the top of the 3rd with a double and a single but couldn?t push them across. The Kats scored another run in the bottom of the 3rd after {{t2:Lexa Neifert:
}} (Jr) reached on a fielder?s choice, was moved over by a sacrifice by Jamie Franks and scored after Mary Grace Howard singled.
}} for the Kats had a single but was caught stealing. In the top of the 5th the Honeybees got a runner on base with one out with a single but their next batter hit into double play by the Kats (RF {{t2:Ashley McElvany: 
}} to 1st Schiele). Likewise, Kennedale left one on base after {{t2:Jenna Webb: 
}} singled in the bottom of the inning.Stephenville rallied in the top of the 6th to score three runs and take a 3-2 lead, getting five singles with the Kats making an error which resulted in the three runs. Kennedale responded with a tying run after a singles by Schiele and McElvany with the last scoring Schiele.after nine a walk-off solo homerun …
The score stayed tied at 3-3 all the way through to the bottom of the 9th. Stephenville went 4 and out in the 8th and then 3 and out in the 9th. It was in the bottom of the 9th that Megan Calhoun got her 1st hit of the game with one out and a first ball pitch, she hit the solo homerun that won the game for the Kats.
For the game Stephenville had 3 runs on 10 hits with 3 errors, stranding 10. Kennedale had 4 runs on 9 hits with 2 errors, stranding 6.
Game 2 ? Kennedale 7 Stephenville 0 – Friday
Despite playing on Friday the 13th, there was no bad luck for the Kats who came out scoring with 3 runs in the top of the 1st and never looked back. The Kats tacked on a run in the 2nd, 4th and two in the 6th while holding the Honeybees scoreless.Kennedale finished with 7 runs on 10 hits and 2 errors, leaving 8 on base. Stephenville had no runs on 2 hits and 3 errors, leaving 6 on base.
Starting for Kennedale as pitcher was {{t2:Valerie Velasquez:
}} (Sr) who pitched 1.1 innings, facing 4 batters, she threw 10 pitches with 6 strikes and allowed a single hit. Megan Calhoun got the win, pitching 6 innings facing 23 batters, throwing 81 pitches with 57 strikes (.704), striking out 3, walking 2 and allowing one hit.
Elizabeth Schiele and Mary Grace Howard had the hot bats for the Kats, racking up six RBIs and scoring 3 runs between them. For the game Schiele had 3 RBIs going 3 for 3 with 2 singles and a double and scoring once. Howard had 3 RBIs with a single and a triple and scored twice. Jenna Webb had an RBI on two hits. Lexis Niefert hit a double and scored twice. Alyssa Bradberry had a single.Coaching staff for Kennedale: Head Coach Chris Rue (Science – IPC), Katrina Pytel (PE, Outdoor Ed), Derek Lopez (CTE – Anatomy/Physiology).
