As the annual Ranger Round Robin comes to conclusion, the team will enter the second week of the season with extreme confidence. The team went 5-0 in the tournament, including a couple nail biters against O’Connor and Eagle Pass. The tournament had it all for the girls, who were down early and had to play catch up, as well as taking the lead early and maintaining their aggressiveness.

They beat O’Connor in a game which featured Seneca Anthony who picked up 5 strikeouts through 5 innings and also drawing a walk in the game as well. also in the game against O’Connor, Hannah Pair lead the team in hitting, going 2-2 and driving in one of the two runs scored.

They have two games on Friday both in the afternoon, first, against Los Fresnos, the girls had to battle in all aspects of the game. pitching was senior Ryanne Limone, who through 2 2/3 innings giving up 5 runs which forced the team to have to fight back. lead off hitter, Lauen Gonzales lead the come back going 2-3 in the game and scored 2 runs. Hits were scattered all around the line up as six of the nine batters picked up hits as they came back and scored six unanswered runs, including the game tying and game winning runs in the bottom the fourth inning 6-5.

Next up in the double header was against the Madison Mavericks. Gonzales continued her hot hitting, going 2-3 again with an RBI. Also in the game, Abby Brand and Ryanne Limon got a hit a piece and lastly, Anthony went 2-2 hitting and pitching wise, struck out six trough five innings and gave up one earned run.

In the final day of the tournament the team had two games set, first up was Eagle Pass. Pitching was Anthony who was the virtually lights out in her previous outings. Eagle Pass jumped to an early lead off of a 2 run home run against Anthony. Starting off in a hole, opened up the run factory as they tried to  manufacture runs with a heavy dose of bunting. Two of the best bunters on the team, Brand and Coonts, really excelled in this mindset. Coach Wolf said “we are a firm believer in manufacturing runs and causing chaos on the base paths” so look to see a lot more bunting in games, especially close games. Behind a clutch pitching performance after giving up the early runs, the team went on to score four runs late to take the game 4-2.

Also in the game against Eagle Pass, freshman Taylor Nava, collected her first hit at the varsity level, going 2-2 with an RBI. After the game, I caught up with and emotional Nava, she said “I was just super excited…it was just such a rush and I’m just glad I got hits to help the team”

In the final game of the tournament, the team was staring down South Side and the Max-preps player of the game in their game prior the tournament, Jess Zocher. The Rangers played away for the first time the tournament and didn’t take long to get on the board as they scratched a single run off in the first. Pitching was Limon and looking to bounce back from her previous outing. She went five innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks and only gave up two hits. The girls scored in the final three innings of the game with clutch performances by Blevins, Vasquez , and Anthony to extend the lead to 6-0 as that would be the final.

All and all the team went a total of 5-0 at the Ranger Round Robin, out scoring teams 21-8 in those games. Clutch pitching performances by Seneca Anthony and Ryanne Limon, not to mention the frame work behind the dish by Abby Brand contributed to a stellar pitching rotation throughout the tournament.  Hitting was led by Lauren Gonzales who went 6-9 in the tournament, as a result the Ranger power hitters, Cassie Blevins, Lexi Vasquez, Seneca Anthony, and Maddie MacDougall were able to hit with runners on and produce runs. Not to mention, the back of the line up coming up clutch, Savannah Coonts, Sydney Drott and Abby Brand, getting on base and turning it over to the top of the lineup. Also the tournament showed the sheer depth of the roster, as both Hannah Pair and Taylor Nava came up big in crucial moments throughout the games.

Now the Rangers turn their sights too the Brennen Round Robin tournament which starts Thursday and goes through Saturday.