Mexico’s offense kept rolling last Thursday.

Mexico vs Fulton Photo Gallery

The problem was North Central Missouri Conference rival Fulton hit three home runs worth eight runs to hand Mexico a 10-8 loss in the regular season finale at Gallop Field in Mexico. The Lady Bulldogs took the lead two times and scored twice in the seventh inning only to fall short and go into districts with a 14-14 record.

Head coach Hanna Branch said Mexico (6-4 NCMC) has been rolling offensively in its final 13 games, including Thursday’s shootout with Fulton (17-8, 10-0 NCMC). The Lady Bulldogs went 9-4 while averaging 7.8 runs in that span. A huge chunk of Mexico’s runs allowed against Fulton came on three pitches.

“It’s hard because there isn’t much the defense can do on those,” Branch said. “When you’re facing really good hitters, you’re going to give up really big hits and home runs, but it’s hard to come back offensively when they have multiple-run home runs like that.”

Branch said Fulton had timely hitting all night since every single one of its home runs felt like a big blow. Maddie Bright hit a two-RBI home run for a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, Layla Underwood tied the game at 5 in the fifth inning with a three-RBI home run and then Natalie Underwood gave the Lady Hornets insurance and a 10-6 lead in the seventh inning with a three-RBI home run.

Mexico did have some extra-base hits in the form of two triples and a double but didn’t have enough in key spots to catch Fulton in the end. Branch said the Lady Bulldogs did well “chipping away” like what happened in the seventh inning on a two-RBI single by Aleigha Henderson, who finished 2-for-3. 

“We just didn’t have those extra-base hits the way they did,” Branch said. “There were a couple of baserunning things that caught up to us, but overall, we did really well hitting.”

Hannah Loyd was an exception for Mexico as she picked up the team’s biggest hit of the game in the fourth inning. Loyd drove in two runs on a triple to give Mexico a 4-2 lead that increased to 5-2 lead following an error. 

As Loyd pulled up into third base, she roared toward the dugout to display an energetic exterior. On the inside, Branch said Loyd was feeling sick and wasn’t at 100 percent. Still, Loyd was enough of a threat later in the game to draw an intentional walk.

“She legged that out, and when you’re not feeling good and you’re having a hard time breathing, triples take it out of you,” Branch said. “She came up clutch in big situations when we had runners on. She did her job offensively, and she did a great job defensively (at catcher). I’m really proud of her pushing through the adversity and not feeling 100 percent.”

Branch said Loyd might be one of those girls with greater focus when they aren’t feeling 100 percent as that isn’t the case with everybody. 

Henderson also had a triple, and Payton Shaw had a double to round out Mexico’s extra-base hits. Senior Kenley Jones scored two runs, including once on a squeeze bunt by Maddy Feger for the game’s first run in the third inning.

All of Mexico’s efforts fed into yet another shootout game with Fulton as has been the case the previous two games this season. Fulton won the first conference matchup 11-10 and then Mexico redeemed that loss with a 10-9 victory in the California tournament. Branch said the nature of the games depends largely on the nature of the teams.

“Both teams are really hungry for a win,” Branch said. “When they go up to the plate, they’re aggressive on good pitches early. It was a battle of the bats today with who can hit the hardest and who can hit the farthest. We competed well but just couldn’t get enough.”

Mexico plays in the Class 4 District 5 tournament in Hannibal as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Holt (4-11) at 4 p.m. today. The top seed is Father Tolton, who received votes in the most recent state poll and has beaten Mexico twice by only one run — 1-0 and 7-6.

Branch said the “fire” and “grit” has been there for Mexico when it has played arch-rival Fulton, but those elements have been there over the last month. She said she feels good as the No. 3 seed and with the current state of the team.

“We’ve turned it around,” Branch said. “In the beginning of the season, we beat ourselves in a lot of games. Now, we finally have come together and figured things out. The girls seem like they have a lot of confidence going in. Our bats are really hot, which is a great time for us to be hot going into districts.”