Chloe Lee and the Plano East softball team defeated Princeton 2-1 Saturday afternoon. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media
By David Wolman
GARLAND — As the Plano East softball team turned its attention to the start of the second half of District 6-6A play, the Lady Panthers felt they were in a much better position to contend for another playoff berth than they were a few weeks ago.
Plano East won three of its last four games to conclude the first found of district play, with wins over Prosper Rock Hill, Plano and McKinney. The Lady Panthers carried over that momentum into Saturday afternoon, when they earned a walk-off 2-1 victory against Princeton to start the second half of 9-6A competition.
Freshman Emerson Bailey drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Plano East to its fifth district win.
Saturday’s win moved Plano East (5-4) to within a half-game of fourth-place Prosper (5-3) and one game behind third-place Plano (6-4). The Lady Panthers will host Prosper this Friday at 7:15 p.m. and get a chance to complete the season sweep of Plano on April 10 at Plano Senior High.
“I think that our kids have bought in,” head coach Lauren Peterson said. “They enjoy being around each other. We just woke up one day and the energy was different and it felt different. It all just started clicking.”
The Lady Panthers worked through some missed opportunities before finally putting away Princeton in the bottom of the seventh.
Plano East was only able to muster one run up until that point of the ballgame — an RBI double by La’Courtnia Butler — and also had a run overturned after Princeton won an appeal. On that play, Plano East initially scored a run on a sacrifice fly. However, after a conference by the two umpires, it was determined that the base runner left too early from third base on a tag-up, resulting in the third out of the third inning.
Instead of Plano East leading 2-0, its advantage was only one run.
Plano East also struggled to time up its swings against Princeton freshman pitcher Zaniya Passini. Passini also was a key contributor on offense for Princeton. She sliced an RBI double into right field in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score at 1-1.
Princeton threatened for more, but a crucial defensive play swung the momentum in Plano East’s direction. Freshman catcher Bailey threw out a base runner attempting to steal third base. Third baseman Kayleigh Miller applied the tag to end the frame, keeping Plano East tied at 1-1 with Princeton on the scoreboard.
“Emerson, our freshman catcher, brings a new light of energy,” Peterson said. “That play sparked a lot of fire. I’m proud of her. It kind of work us back up.”
Bailey backstopped a strong pitching outing by pitcher Ella Anderson, who worked around several run-scoring chances for Princeton to notch the win. She struck out six and scattered five hits.
“Ella threw a great game today,” Peterson said. “Ella was hitting spots consistently. She was tying to get them to hit for contact, which is what we had talked to her about, and she did a great job. It was hot. We haven’t played in the daytime with this hot weather. Even our tournaments weren’t this hot. She did exactly what we asked her to do.”
Bailey then went from making a crucial defensive play to winning the game for Plano East a few minutes later after her bases-loaded walk clinched another district win for Plano East.
“We struggled making adjustments today,” Peterson said. “They stepped up and made an adjustment when they needed to.”
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