Tim Fischer/Midland College
Midland College pitcher Marie Rondeau
Forrest Allen/Courtesy of MC Athletics
The Midland College softball team got the bounce-back series it needed over the weekend.
The Lady Chaparrals helped their sophomores close out the home schedule on a high note with a doubleheader sweep of El Paso Community College on cloudy Saturday afternoon at the Freddie Ezell Softball Complex.
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Marie Rondeau threw a one-hitter in an impressive 11-0 victory in the first game, before fellow sophomore Brianna Flores delivered the game-winning hit in a 2-1 win in eight innings in the finale.
“You have to go out with a bang sometimes and leave your mark,” said Flores one of eight players honored on Saturday.
“It was really an emotional experience to be here the last two years. The memories, everything, just surreal, and then all of a sudden, you have the last game here. I’m really sad, but I’ve loved everything so far.”
With the two victories, the Lady Chaps completed a four-game series sweep of the Tejanas over three days because of Friday’s rescheduling due to rain.
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MC (38-8, 16-4 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference) shut out EPCC in both games on Thursday, 7-0 and 8-0 as the Lady Chaps put last weekend’s series sweep by Odessa College in the rearview mirror for now.
“The focus was there, they were just ready to come out and make a statement,” said MC coach Angel Castro of her team pitching three shutouts in the series. “We’re just kind of looking forward to the regional tournament at this point.
“We’re trying to clean up some of the things that didn’t go right the last couple of weeks. We’re definitely looking forward to the next two weeks.”
Marie Rondeau threw a one-hitter in the first game. She struck out three and did not walk a batter in her five innings of work.
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The MC offense backed her up by scoring five runs in the first inning and six runs in the third inning on just six hits.
The Lady Chaps hit three home runs in the first inning as Flores and Midland High grad Avrey Ochoa each hit solo shots, while Jozanna Montes connected for a three-run blast.
Karissa Garcia hit a two-run shot of her own in the big third inning.
The second game was more of a pitcher’s duel between MC starter Anays Perez and EPCC starter Abigail Rios as it was a scoreless game until the fourth when Flores scored on a sacrifice fly by Emma Davis to give the Lady Chaps a 1-0 lead.
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EPCC (9-35, 6-16) tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth behind an RBI double by Gabriela Martinez, who was 2-for-3 with two doubles in the game.
The Tejanas had an opportunity to take the lead when they loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, Perez got EPCC to hit into an inning-ending groundout.
That set up the Flores’ game-winning single in the bottom of the eighth.
“It was really important to go from losing four (last week) to winning the next four,” Flores said. “It’s motivational and it keeps pushing us to do better and get better every day.”
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In addition to Brianna Flores getting two hits, Hannah Flores added two hits of her own.
The Lady Chaps will close the regular season with a four-game series at Clarendon College, beginning with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 7.
MC begins play in the NJCAA Region V Tournament in less than two weeks when it travels to the home field of the to-be-determined North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference champion.
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MIDLAND COLLEGE 11, EL PASO CC 0, 5 innings
El Paso 000 00 –0 1 0
Midland 506 0x –11 6 0
Ariel Alavarado, Aleana Duarte (3) and Miranda Heredia. Marie Rondeau and Jozanna Montes. W – Rondeau. L – Alvarado. HR – MC: Brianna Flores, Karissa Garcia, Avrey Ochoa, Montes.
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MIDLAND COLLEGE 2, EL PASO CC 1, 8 innings
El Paso 000 001 00 –1 4 0
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Midland 000 100 01 –2 7 1
Abigail Rios and Heredia. Anays Perez and Montes. W – Perez. L – Rios. 2B – EPCC: Gabriella Martinez 2; MC: B. Flores