By Caleb Adams

Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD – The Orangefield Lady Bobcats beat the Silsbee Tigers 11-4 in Orangefield on Tuesday for the softball season opener for both teams.

The whole lineup contributed to the offense this game, but a couple stood out for the Lady Bobcats. Heather Mineer had a great game at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk, a single and a two-run homerun in the fourth inning.

Leadoff hitter Ryden Stanfield also had a good night at the plate. She went 2-for-4 with two singles and a sac fly, along with scoring two times and a stolen base, shining in all parts of the game for the Lady Bobcats.

The Lady Tigers took the first strike thanks to an Lady Bobcat error in the outfield. Blythe reached on a leadoff single, with two outs Weems hit a high fly ball to deep left center, which was bobbled and gave enough time for Blythe to score from first base on the error. After taking advantage of the miscue, the Lady Tigers took an early 1-0 lead heading to the bottom of the first.

Emma Humplik respondeds for the Lady Bobcats with a long two-run bomb in the bottom of the first inning. Stanfield reached on a leadoff single and was pushed over to second thanks to a sac bunt from Olivia Grant. Humplik came up with a chance to take the lead and didn’t miss, ripping one deep over left field, driving in two runs and giving the Lady Bobcats a one run lead after the first is complete.

The Lady Bobcats extend their lead, thanks to small ball this time. Stanfield reached as the leadoff hitter again, this time she swiped second without needing a sac bunt. On the throw to second the Lady Tigers made another error and Stanfield took third. Grant hit a grounder to shortstop but the throw home was too late, scoring Stanfield from third base. Alyssa Dodd would drive in the next run after the Lady Tigers bobbled a fly ball, giving Grant the time she needed to come around and score.

The inning continued with a sac fly from Tiffany Ciancaglione to centerfield scoring Dodd from third base, after advancing on two wild pitches. That would be all they could get this inning, but the Lady Bobcats took a 5-1 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Orangefield exploded in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach.

Madison Hughes led off with a walk and Stanfield laid down a sac bunt to move her to second base. Dodd would drive her in with a hard single after Grant reached on a walk. Ciancaglione would follow up with a single smashed past the infield to drive in both Dodd and Grant for two RBI’s.

Sorge would come up next and smack another single to drive in Ciancaglione. Mineer would cap off the inning with a two run home-run to left center as the Lady Bobcats took a commanding lead at 11-1 after four innings complete.

Silsbee wasn’t ready to give up, as their offense finally woke up in the top of the fifth inning. The Lady Tigers would rally for three runs in the inning, thanks to Paine and Moss with back to back singles, after Jordan and Baldwin both were hit by pitches to lead off the inning. Silsbee would trail 11-4 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Lady Bobcats would hang on to win and take home their first win of the new season. The best takeaway for them is that their offense contributed throughout the whole lineup and doesn’t rely on just one big stick to get runs. Their ability to move runners around and find holes in the defense will go a long way if they can keep it up.

The Lady Bobcats will compete in the Galveston Ball Tournament Thursday through Saturday.