Mexico didn’t have a hit since the first inning on Saturday morning but were one swing away from a tie game.

Mexico vs Southern Boone Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs hosted Class 3 No. 5 Southern Boone in the first game of a triangular at Gallop Field in Mexico and trailed 6-4 with runners on second and third base with two outs and Payton Shaw at the plate. Shaw blasted a pitch to the base of the right-field fence, but Hannah Loyd was called out for leaving the base too early and the game ended with a 6-4 Southern Boone victory.

Head coach Hanna Branch said it was “frustrating” for her and the girls but also for an umpire to end the game on a rare call such as that one. Branch, who coaches at third base, disagreed with the call that Loyd was leaving third before the pitcher Hailey Platt released the ball.

“Hannah was leaving late,” Branch said. “I don’t know if he got confused because she leads off with one foot on the bag and one foot in front, and he thought she was leading off. Usually at third, I have the girls lead off later because we’re so close, and we don’t want that call.”

Shaw appeared to have her second RBI double of the game after lifting a pitch for extra bases in the first inning. There lies the problem, though, as Branch said the offense went quiet after the first inning, when Mexico (11-13) scored two runs to respond to three runs by Southern Boone (19-9). Loyd led off the game with a single, Shaw hit a RBI double and no more hits came from the Lady Bulldogs.

Platt finished with a line of seven innings, four walks, three strikeouts, two hits and two earned runs. Keerstan Ewing pitched seven innings for the Lady Bulldogs with six runs allowed on six hits and one walk and two strikeouts. Even the baserunners Mexico had in the seventh inning reached via two errors, a hit by pitch and a fielder’s choice.

“Our energy was a little off,” Branch said, “We definitely weren’t putting the ball in play when we needed to or attacking pitches early in the count. When we did put the ball in play, it was right at people.”

Branch said Mexico found a new energy or “spark” late in the game. Scottie Smith had an eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in a hit by pitch on a 3-2 count and then Kenley Jones saw six pitches before reaching on an error on a 3-2 pitch.

The speed of Jones beat out the throw to first after the infield bobble and was ahead of a fielder’s choice throw after a ground ball was hit by Loyd to third base. Jones scored from second base on an error committed on Maddy Feger’s ground ball.

“There was a little bit of grit that inning for our girls,” Branch said. “I could tell Kenley was trying out everything she could to just get on and put the ball in play. She had a great at-bat, she battled with a lot of pitches and finally put the ball in play.”

Branch is confident Mexico will bounce back from this loss and was at least encouraged by the effort she saw in the seventh inning. The at-bats looked to be better than they were all game and just will have to happen sooner in the future.

“We were batting deep in the counts and even letting pitches go with two strikes,” Branch said. “That’s tough to not swing at junk with two strikes. It says a lot they had a lot of fight toward the end.”

In the second triangular game, Mexico scored a season-high in a 16-4 win over Palmyra (2-19). The Lady Bulldogs (12-13) had 13 hits, including five doubles. Landri Teel finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two doubles, Scottie Smith went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double, Kenley Jones went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Maddy Feger added two RBI. Keerstan Ewing allowed four unearned runs on seven hits.

Mexico hosts Macon (17-4) at 5 p.m. Monday.