Softball: OHS continues playoff march

ABILENE Less than 10 minutes after Odessa High and Burleson squared off in a Class 5A regional quarterfinal game, the workers at Abilene Christian University's Wells Field turned out the lights.

The Lady Bronchos already had done that to the Lady Elks.

Courtney Cernoch and Chelsey Walters each had two hits and Hillary Phillips continued her dominating form on the mound as OHS ran away to a 6-1 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of the best-of-3 series.

Game 2 is set for 1 p.m. today, with a third game, if necessary, to follow 30 minutes later. This is the first time that the Lady Bronchos (28-2-3) have advanced to the regional round of the playoffs in four postseason appearances.

"I thought that the girls did a good job," Odessa High coach Stephanie Graham said. "We may have been too relaxed after last week, but I thought they responded to situations.

"This was a big night for us."

The Lady Bronchos got on the scoreboard quickly, pushing two runs across in the bottom of the first inning.

Walters started the rally with a leadoff single to left and then moved to second when Kristy Smith reached on an infield single to shortstop.

That brought Rosie Lopez to the plate and she chopped a single up the middle that caromed off the glove of Burleson pitcher Jamie Lambert before Lady Elks' shortstop Ashlee McDodd picked it up near second base.

Walters raced to third on the play and then never stopped running, racing home with the first run of the game as McDodd tumbled to the ground at second trying to make a play on Smith.

Lambert, however, got Kendra Dees to hit into a double play that moved Smith to third, but Cernoch drilled a one-strike pitch to left to drive in Smith for a 2-0 lead.

Odessa High added a single run in the fourth inning when Cernoch led off with a double, moved to third on Phillips' groundout and then scored on Mia Hignojos' ground ball to second base.

The Lady Bronchos then put the game out of reach in the fifth when Walters led off with a single and stole second. When Smith hit a slow roller to shortstop, Walters raced for third and beat the throw, allowing Smith to reach first safely.

Smith kept on running and drew a throw, which allowed Walters to race home from third. Lopez then hit a ground ball to second that was misplayed and Smith never stopped as Graham waved her home, where she beat the throw.

"I like the way that we were aggressive on the bases," Graham said. "We've been doing that all year and it puts a lot of pressure on the other team."

Burleson (27-10) got on the scoreboard in the sixth when Taylor Bankston led off with a single off Phillips' glove and then scored on Michaela McNeely's two-out triple off the the left-centerfield fence.