GEORGETOWN – After 13 innings and nearly four hours, the Guyer Wildcats softball season came to a sudden end following a 5-3 loss against Weslaco in the Class 6A state semifinals on Thursday from Georgetown East View HS. The game was moved to Georgetown from UT’s McCombs Field due to lightning and rain early Friday.
Guyer ends at 37-5.
Weslaco will play Waco Midway for the 6A championship at 4 pm on Saturday.
The Wildcats reached the state tournament for the second straight season. They lost to Pearland in the title game last year. It was the program’s third appearance. Guyer lost in the semifinals in 2010.
Sophomore pitcher Finley Montgomery allowed five runs on 12 hits, walked three and struck out 12 in all 13 innings. She faced 57 batters. Oregon signee Kaylynn Jones went 4 for 7 with a triple and one RBI. Texas State signee Erin Peterson went 3 for 5 with a double and one walk. Bri Williams went 4 for 6 with a triple and two RBI. Jordan Osborne had two hits and one double.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the 13th inning, Guyer loaded the bases with two outs.
Williams and Lauryn Jones both reached with infield singles and Kaylynn Jones hit a pitch to center that loaded the bases. But on the next pitch, a hard grounder went to shortstop and Weslaco got the force at second to finish the game.
Weslaco makes the title game for the first time. It’s the program’s second state appearance.
The Panthers lost to Pearland in the 2016 semifinals.
Weslaco got a single in the third and the runner advanced to third before Montgomery picked up the strikeout to end the threat. Guyer left 15 total runners on base in the game. Two of those came in the bottom of the third when Kaylynn Jones and Peterson were on second and third. Jones had a one-out triple and Peterson was hit by a pitch to reach base. But a hard grounder to second ended the inning.
Both teams left two runners on in the fourth.
The Panthers led 2-0 in the fifth on a two-run double to right center.
Weslaco added a run in the sixth on an RBI double off the left field wall and the Panthers were ahead 3-0. But Guyer rallied in the bottom of the inning with three runs to tie it. Osborne doubled and the Wildcats had two runners on in scoring position. Williams then hit a pitch into shallow left and the ball took a bounce away from the left fielder for a two-run triple. Williams scored when Kaylynn Jones legged out an infield single to second.
Montgomery got her eighth strikeout in the seventh and Peterson was stranded at first to send it to extras. Osborne hit a deep ball to the warning track in the eighth and Williams singled followed by a Weslaco error that got Kaylynn Jones on base with two outs. But a strikeout sent the game to the ninth.
Montgomery got her 10th strikeout in the ninth and her 11th in the 10th inning.
In the 11th, Karen Galaviz ran down a ball in foul ground and Williams made a catch in deep center. Meanwhile, Guyer was retired in order. Weslaco took a 4-3 lead in the 13th on an RBI double down the third base line. The Panther extended to 5-3 when a run came across on a Guyer error in the infield.
Montgomery ends the year 26-3 in the circle.
Guyer reached state after beating Keller 8-0 in Game 3 of the Region 1 championship.
The Wildcats finished the regular season as champions of District 5-6A.
