By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

 

PORT NECHES — The Huffman Lady Falcons beat the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears 10-5 in game one of their best-of-three Class 4A Region III area round series Thursday at The Reservation in Port Neches-Groves.

It was an exciting back and forth offensive battle all game long. Multiple home runs early and a big grand slam made the game close and very competitive, a quality game from start to finish.

Huffman (24-11-1) finished with 14 hits while LCM had five. Most of LCM’s (25-5) offense came from a big second inning push. The hit differential just shows the story of this game all the way through.

Game Two will be Friday at 5 p.m. at Crosby High School with Game Three to follow if necessary.

Huffman leadoff batter Dez Cardenas pulled a George Springer and hit a long dinger to right to lead off the game. That’s all the Lady Hawks would find in the inning, but the damage was dealt and the Lady Bears started off on their backfoot.

In the second inning Hagan Spike repeated what Cardenas did with a leadoff homer to left. The Lady Falcons extended their lead to two early. In the same fashion as the first inning, that’s all the Lady Falcons could grab as they led 2-0 after the top of the second.

LCM struck back with explosive offense in the bottom of the second inning. Madison Murdock knocked in Brianna Frenzel for the Lady Bear’s first run of the game. The Lady Bears weren’t done as they loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. The next batter, Reena Toomey, took it deep for a grand slam to take a 5-2 lead after two innings complete.

The Lady Falcons weren’t done, as the fifth inning was the biggest one yet. Mackenzie Carroll and Bethany Sousa were brought around after Ali Humphries had a big hit to right-center to cut the lead to just one run. Bella Reid would have a sac fly to bring in Cardenas from third to tie the game.

Huffman took the lead when Katy Janes knocked in Humphries from second base. The Lady Falcons led 6-5 halfway through the fifth inning.

Huffman extended their lead in the top of the sixth inning as the offensive battle continued. Andrea Hortch led off with a single and stole second base to setup Mackenzie Carroll to drive her in with a single of her own. That’s the only run that would come across, but the Lady Falcons took a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

The Lady Falcons were not done yet as the offense continued to produce in the final inning. Janes knocks in Humphries with a long single to right-center to extend the lead to three. Carroll, with a hard double, brought in two more runs with the bases loaded. That would be all the Lady Falcons grabbed, but they took a firm 10-5 lead heading into the last frame of the game.

Brianna Frenzel, battling a cold going into the contest, started on the mound for the Lady Bears while Toomey also tossed as well.