Lady Eagles rally, claim Game 2

SCORING CELEBRATION — Decatur’s Chayse Freeman celebrates after scoring a run in the Lady Eagles’ 3-0 win over Dumas in Game 2 of the best-of-three 4A Region I semifinal series Saturday at Lubbock Cooper High School. MICAH MCCARTNEY/WCMESSENGER

After being shut out in the fourth-round series opener against Dumas Friday, the Decatur Lady Eagles responded in a big way.

Decatur (29-8-1) broke a scoreless draw in the sixth inning, plating three runs to claim a 3-0 Game 2 win. 

“This was a huge win because obviously keeps us going,” Decatur coach Bryan Chaney said. “I’m proud of the way the girls responded. They didn’t drop their heads or slouch their shoulders — they came out ready to play. We didn’t challenge them to do anything different than we have been doing all year long. We understood that we had an off-day yesterday, and I believe we put that behind us and played great in Game 2. But we’ve still got another one to go.”

The Lady Eagles faced Dumas in a winner-take-all Game 3 tiebreaker Saturday afternoon. Game results were not available at press time. 

Decatur produced three runs on 10 hits. 

Abby Mosley swung the big bat, going 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Macy Helton and Madi Davis recorded two hits each. Kenna Chaney hit a single, and drove in one run. 

“The girls have been really good at making adjustments at the plate,” Chaney said. “Whenever they see a pitcher for several at-bats, they do a good job of figuring her out as they go along. It was good to see us hit well today, compared to last night.”

Macey Jones kept the Demonettes off the scoreboard, allowing seven hits with three strikeouts. 

“Macey’s go-to pitch is a screwball, but we changed it up a little bit,” Chaney said. “I bet we threw two screwballs the whole game. Instead, we threw more curveballs and drop curves. She was able to make that adjustment and execute. She’s hurting pretty good right now, but that was a gutty performance from her.”