Mexico waited for another shot at Macon after losing 9-8 in last year’s district championship game.
The Lady Bulldogs hosted their district foe on Wednesday at home and won 8-2 thanks to …
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Mexico waited for another shot at Macon after losing 9-8 in last year’s district championship game.
The Lady Bulldogs hosted their district foe on Wednesday at home and won 8-2 thanks to scoring five runs in the fifth inning. They lost their first three games against district foes this season — two one-run games.
Aleigha Henderson had the game-winning two-RBI single up the middle in the fifth inning. Mexico (9-4) lost at Class 3 No. 2 Centralia 11-0 the previous night but fell just short 5-4 at Kirksville and 4-3 at Hallsville.
“I feel like we were starting to lose a lot of our confidence because we were falling short every game,” Henderson said. “This really boosted up our confidence.”
Chloe Landrum had a RBI hit, and Alyssa Miller drove in two runs to further help Mexico break a tie at 1 that happened after Macon (5-9) scored in the top half of the fifth inning. Payton Shaw finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs, Miller was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Henderson had two RBIs, Landrum went 2-for-3 with one RBI and Scottie Smith was 3-for-4 with three runs.
Macon used three pitchers, but Henderson said Mexico adjusted to the pitchers quicker later in the game. When it came to her at bat, Henderson said she needed to find her pitch.
“My first at bat, I swung at a bad pitch,” Henderson said. “I knew that I needed to wait for them to come to me and find the pitch that I wanted. I waited to find the pitch that I liked, and I jumped on it because I knew that I needed to score runners in the tie game.”
Sammie Gipson was the only pitcher Mexico needed on Wednesday. Gipson pitched seven innings with five hits, two strikeouts and one earned run, and head coach Hanna Jones said she did well pitching to her defense.
Jones said the offense “clicked” in the fifth inning by hitting some nice line drives. After there were many early swings and quick outs by both sides, she said the Lady Bulldogs “played within themselves.”
“They didn’t chase after junk,” Jones said. “They looked for their pitches in the zone. They had very disciplined at bats. That was the big difference maker. We played our game no matter who they threw in pitching-wise.”
Jones said every win is precious, but this one meant something more to the girls after how last season ended.
“I know the girls were hungry for a win against them,” Jones said. “We played them multiple times last year, but our team has grown a lot and their team has grown a lot. This win especially feels really good. It’s a good confidence boost.”
Mexico plays at rival Fulton (1-9) at 5 p.m. Thursday.
