Published: September 26, 2008 10:07 am      

Safely into regional

Central High steamrolls past Empire in district

CENTRAL HIGH — CENTRAL HIGH — The Lady Bronchos took the first step toward filling a big ambition by sweeping Empire to capture the district title. Central High finished both games in five innings, winning 10-0 in the first game and wrapping up with a 9-1 to end the Lady Bulldogs’ season.

“At the first of the year, I said I wanted to be in the state tournament or knocking on the door,” Central High coach Chad Weldon said. “We have a good team, we have girls that work hard and play hard.

“We played well tonight. We had a couple of errors but we also made plays.”

Lindsay Johnson picked up wins in both games for the Lady Bronchos, keeping Empire in check most of the evening. The only Lady Bulldog run came in the top of the fourth in the second game to cut the lead to 3-1.

Kayla Fuller reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a sacrifice. An error placed Fuller on third and a double steal with two outs would bring the junior home.

After seeing its bats go silent after three first-inning runs, Central High got back in the swing of things in the fourth, picking up a run on an RBI single by Denise Robertson. It appeared that Empire would be able to hold the Lady Bronchos to that one run but it was at that point the bottom fell out.

With two outs and two runners on, Central High took advantage of an error on a routine grounder to score two more runs. MaKenzie Payton would add an RBI single, and two Empire errors would allow the lead to grow to 9-1. The game would end a half-inning later.

“We had our confidence up at the time,” Empire coach Rickey Rhodes said. “We made young mistakes. I was proud of the way my girls battled in the last game. You have to take your hat off to Central High, they are a talented team.”

Johnson struck out four and gave up two hits in the win. Central High would have only five hits in the game with Payton leading the way, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Amy Benton was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

The bats of Central High had a much bigger role in the series opener. The Lady Bronchos pounded out 13 hits in the 10-0 win, compared to one for Empire.

The game started with Central High taking a 1-0 lead in the first on a Payton RBI single to score Ashley Smith. CHS added three more runs in the second and two more in the third on an two-run single by Chelsea Gorbet.

While the offense did its work, Johnson held Empire at bay, allowing one hit in the first three innings. The Lady Bulldogs put together a solid scoring threat in the bottom of the third when Dakota Brown and Kaylee Price reached scoring position on a fielder’s choice and a double. A ground-out ended any chance Empire would have of scoring.

Central High scored three in the fourth and one in the fifth to close the game out. Payton was 4-for-4 with one run and four RBIs. Smith was 3-for-4 with three runs and Gorbet was 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the team.

The Lady Bronchos improved to 22-5 and will wait until Monday to see where they will suit up for regionals.