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A dominant performance, including 17 strikeouts, catapulted the Elgin Lady Wildcats (18-8) over the Mc-Callum Lady Knights (5-10) in the first round of the UIL softball playoffs.
Jessica Cantrell led the Lady Wildcats on the mound picking up 17 strikeouts and giving up no hits over seven innings. She walked four batters, which resulted in the only two runs for McCallum on the night.
A trio of errors resulted in Jaylan Roberson and Bianca Galindo crossing the plate for two runs in the first inning for Elgin. The Lady Wildcats added three more runs in the second inning behind a pop fly to right field by Roberson that brought in Dani King, and a line drive to center field by Emily Sumner to bring in Roberson and Trinity Martinez.
Elgin led 5-0 going into the third inning.
A sacrifice fly to right field by Sumner in the bottom of the fourth was enough to drive in King to push the lead to 6-0 after four frames.
The fifth inning was more of the same with Elgin adding two more runs of courtesy of a Cantrell double and a Gabriella King single which drove in Jaelyn Barker and Miranda Herring, respectively.
In the top of the sixth, Magnolia Smith was hit by a pitch, then advanced to second base after an error. Cantrell would sit the next two batters, but a passed ball on the third batter was an opportunity for Smith to score and get McCallum on the board.
An error later in the inning by the Lady Wildcats was enough for McCallum to score one more run.
It was all Elgin from there forward. Galindo hit a tworun homer in the bottom of the sixth to increase the lead to 10-2. Mackenzie put the game away after stealing third and scoring on a Mc-Callum error.
Galindo had two runs batted in on four at-bats along with one home run. Sumner led the team with three RBIs and two hits. Farris, Roberson and Galindo all had a stolen base in the win.
The Lady Wildcats aim to continue their post-season success against Lake Belton May 2 at 6 p.m. at Glenn High School in Leander. Game two will also be at Glenn High School Friday, May 3 at 5 p.m.
