Leander holds off rival Georgetown, closes in on district softball title

GEORGETOWN — Superb pitching by SJ Geurin and stellar defense late in the game helped Leander hold off Georgetown in a 4-3 win between two state-ranked teams and the two favorites in District 25-5A.

Leander, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, scored four runs in the first two innings then fended off the No. 5 Eagles on Tuesday at Georgetown High School. With the victory, Leander (18-5, 11-0) stretched its winning streak to 12 games and took a two-game lead over Georgetown (22-3, 9-2) in the district race with the season sweep.

Last year, Leander swept Georgetown while winning the district title but the Eagles exacted revenge in the regional finals and edged out Leander for a spot at the state tournament.

According to Leander coach Kendall Driver-Perez, Tuesday's game felt like the postseason.

More: High school softball update: Hays soaring in district; Round Rock's Maddy Azua honored

"This was intense," she said. "It was a playoff atmosphere, and both teams brought it. We will see them again."

Geurin, committed to national power Oklahoma, helped the Lions hold on to the win and all but lock up the district title. She scattered five hits, struck out five and allowed one earned run by using a combination of great location and off-speed variations.

“SJ really fought off a good hitting team tonight," said Driver-Perez. "Her location and several clutch defensive plays kept us on track. And getting runs early was super important.”

In a game delayed an hour because of the storms that rolled through Williamson County, Leander got off to a quick start against Georgetown sophomore pitcher Cambree Creager. Meagan Lee collected two hits and scored a pair of runs while Paige McCall had two hits and Madalyn Strader had two hits and scored a run. Lion catcher Marley Neises singled and drove in a pair of runs in the win.

Even though Leander was up 4-0 after two innings and looked unstoppable at the plate, the host Eagles never quit fighting. Senior second baseman Braylin Pannill caught a Geurin rising fastball and drove the ball up over the light towers in a dramatic third-inning blast that gave renewed life to the somber Eagle crowd, and the game was on.

Creager found her groove on the mound as she retired the Lions in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings while allowing only a single by McCall in the sixth. Six of her nine strikeouts came over the final four innings.

With Creager holding down the Leander offense, the Eagles added a run in the fifth inning when Haiden McGehee singled. McGehee raced to second when all-state shortstop Isa Torres hit a hard shot to the right side of the infield and was thrown out at first, but McGehee continued around second base and scored Georgetown's second run when the throw to home sailed wide.

Trailing by two runs at 4-2, Georgetown had a final rally as Ashley Blaylock doubled just inside the third-base bag with one out in the seventh inning. McGehee then hit a long fly ball to right center field that glanced off the fielder’s glove in heavy winds, scoring Blaylock scoring and pushing McGehee to second base as the tying run.

Torres then grounded out to short with McGehee advancing to third. Samantha Swan lashed a deep shot to right centerfield that Lee, one of the premier outfielders in the area, ran down to catch and end the game.

“Wow, what a finish,” said Driver-Perez. "Nobody quit. Everybody on both teams played hard to that final catch,”

Even in defeat, Torres expressed pride in the Eagles.

"Tonight, we never quit," she said. "Leander is really good, and we got down early, but we adjusted and kept chipping away. It was a good game."

Leander's 6-5 start against a rugged schedule seems a long time ago for a team that seems to be peaking as the playoffs approach, said Driver-Perez.

“We started a little slow as we were not really together in terms of team identity," she said. "I think the team really came together and saw themselves as a unique group, and they have played well since that start."

Other Tuesday Class 6A, 5A softball action

In District 26-6A, Bowie blanked Akins 10-0 as Cassidy McLean had four hits and scored three runs while Alyssa Lusk added three hits. Pitcher Emma Solis allowed two hits and struck out 14 in the win.

In District 26-5A, Taylor Anderson of Dripping Springs set a school single-season record with her 58th stolen base as the Tigers beat San Antonio Veterans Memorial 8-3. Anderson had four hits and scored twice while stealing three bases to set the new record. Haiden Anderson pitched five innings and Jordan Cox threw two innings for Dripping Springs.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Leander softball beats Georgetown