ABILENE – After a disappointing shutout loss Thursday, the Floydada Futures rebounded to take a 7-5 win over Alice in seven innings on Friday to advance to Saturday morning’s Texas West State Championship game for 12U softball.
Floydada opened the Texas West tournament beating Alice 12-6 on Wednesday, then fell to Waco Midway 12-0 on Thursday in the Semifinals. The Futures will now get another shot at Midway who have not given up a run in their two victories at Lake Kirby Park.
“We had a tough start by falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, and we trailed until the sixth inning when we tied the game at 6-6 at the end of regulation. We finally got ahead in the top of the seventh for the first time with two runs. Brooklyn Pyle deserves the Fighting Whirlwind award for motivating the team in the dugout to keep battling,” said coach Ray Perez.
“I told the team in fifth inning it was do or die. You deserve to be in the championship game, and they responded. This team is capable of playing its best when we are behind. They don’t quit,” said an elated Perez.
WATCH: Players celebrate win
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Floydada outhit Alice 10-6 and Maddie Pyle threw an impressive 11 strikeouts in getting her second win in the state tournament.
Floydada is now 9-1 in the Little League playoffs over the past month.
First pitch will be at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Futures will have to defeat Midway twice to claim the Texas West State title. If it goes to Game 2, it will follow the first game after a 30-minute break.
FLOYDADA – 0 0 2 0 2 1 2 – 7 10
ALICE – 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 – 5 6
WP – Maddie Pyle
Floydada stats:
Runs Scored – Jenna Martinez (2), Karah Cavazos (2), Bella Perez (2), Alyssa Delafuente,
Hits – J. Martinez (3), Cavazos (3), Perez (2), Maddie Pyle, Brooklyn Pyle
FLOYDADA FUTURES roster
Aybree Casillo
Karah Cavazos
Alyssa Delafuente
Sian Diaz
Bailey McHam
Emily Martinez
Jenna Martinez
Bella Perez
Brooklyn Pyle
Maddie Pyle
Abby Reyes
Coaches – Erica and Ray Perez
