Lady Cats move up in the standings with victory over Jim Ned

In a back and forth ballgame the Ballinger Lady Cats secured a late lead and defeated Jim Ned 7-4 on Tuesday. Alina Pena started the game for Ballinger and she went four innings, allowing four runs on five hits and striking out one before being relieved with Ballinger down 4-3. Jessa Battle came in for relief duties and picked up right where she left off in her shutout pitching effort from the previous game. Battle surrendered zero runs on one hit over three innings, striking out one and walking zero to get credit for the win. Pena went 2-for-2 at the plate to lead Ballinger Bearcats Varsity in hits. No hit was more crucial than when the game was tied at four with Ballinger batting in the bottom of the fifth. With Jessa Battle on 2nd and Jenna Battle on 1st, Alina tripled on the first pitch of her at bat driving in the two runs. Ballinger Bearcats Varsity didn’t commit a single error in the field. Tristen Hoelscher had the most chances in the field with five.

With the win Ballinger is in 3rd place in district with a chance to jump into 2nd if they are able to pick up their second win of the season against the Clyde Bulldogs on Friday, April 8th. As it stands now Jim Ned is currently on the outside looking in with Wall in 4th place. Merkel, the district leader, has yet to lose a district contest.