PHOTO: Matt Smith
By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
ARLINGTON – Plano John Paul II scored 6 times in the 3rd inning and Dani Maloney had the walk-off hit in the 5th to send the Cardinals past Argyle Liberty Christian 12-2 in a run-rule contest during a TAPPS D1 softball semifinal on Monday at UT-Arlington’s Allan Saxe Field.
JPII (26-9-1) sets up another champ game showdown with San Antonio Antonian Prep on Tuesday. The Cardinals have reached the Final Four in 6 consecutive seasons with 3 titles to show for it – with all 3 championship wins coming against Antonian, which beat Houston St. Agnes 3-2 on Monday night.
Liberty Christian, which reached the state semifinals last season when its year ended at the hands of JPII, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning when 6 batters came to the plate and Paige Childers scored on a tough pop fly in right field.
Maddy Campbell hit a 1-out triple for JPII in the 1st and scored on a squeeze bunt by Maloney, a UT-Tyler commit. Sadie Zipser, a Colgate commit, added an RBI double and scored on an error to third by the Warriors.
Campbell reached on an error to start the big 3rd inning for the Cardinals and scored on a double to left by Maloney. The bases were loaded when Izzy Weber cleared them with a double to the right center gap to make it 7-1.
Weber and Audrina Arata also both scored in the inning to give JPII a comfortable 9-1 advantage.
Campbell got her second triple of the game to lead off the 4th and Maloney again drove her in with a sac fly just behind second base.
The Warriors were able to score 1 in the top of the 5th when 7 batters came up to bat. MaKenzie Byler hit a 1-out double and Ava Smith added a single to put 2 on. Jaylynn Battaglia drove in Harlow Link with a single to right to pull Liberty Christian within 10-2.
JPII starting pitcher KP Walters, a sophomore, loaded the bases before getting out of the jam with back-to-back grounders to hold the Warriors to just 1 run.
Arata hit an RBI single in the JPII 5th to bring the lead to 11-2 and with the bases loaded, Maloney dropped a pitch near the right field line for a walk-off RBI single.
Maloney finished with 4 RBIs, and also had the walk-off home run in last week’s regional final, a 13-3 decision in 6 against Frisco Legacy Christian. Weber had 3 RBIs while Campbell, Maloney, Zipser and Arata each had 2 hits.
Walters finished with 5 strikeouts as did Byler for Liberty Christian, which ends the year with a 21-13-1 record. Battaglia led the offense with 2 hits. The Warriors made it to Arlington after beating Plano Prestonwood 5-1 last week.
