Vicksburg 12U All-Stars stymied at regional
Published 6:11 pm Thursday, July 25, 2019
One day after they enjoyed a great start to the Little League Softball Southwest Regional, the Vicksburg 12U All-Stars had their roll stopped cold.
Kayla Giardina struck out nine batters while throwing five innings of no-hit ball, and Louisiana state champion Eastbank Little League beat Vicksburg 8-0 in a winners’ bracket game in Waco, Texas.
Vicksburg fell into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament. It will play Eastdale, New Mexico in an elimination game Friday at 10 a.m.
Eastbank improved to 2-0 in the tournament and will face Greater Helotes, Texas, on Saturday morning. Eastbank has outscored its opponents 19-1 in its first two games.
Vicksburg beat Colorado Springs, Colorado, 3-1 in its opener on Wednesday but never got its bats going against Giardina. The right-hander struck out three of the first five batters she faced and only allowed two base runners. Trinity McGloster was hit by a pitch in the second inning and Kamryn Morson walked in the fourth. Neither got past first base.
Giardina finished her outing by striking out the side in the fifth inning. She was moved to first base to start the sixth, with Louisiana holding an 8-0 lead. Hailey Peterson relieved her and retired the side in order to close things out.
Giardina also hurt Vicksburg at the plate. She went 3-for-4 with a triple, RBI, and two runs scored. She singled and scored during a three-run third inning that gave Louisiana a 4-0 lead, and then tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth.
Vicksburg committed four errors and uncorked two wild pitches that helped lead to two unearned runs, but Louisiana didn’t need a lot of help at the plate. Eastbank finished with 11 hits. Bailey Nelson went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
For Vicksburg, pitcher Kyleigh Cooper allowed eight hits and five runs, only three earned, in four innings. She struck out one, walked one, and hit two batters. Madison Pant pitched the last two innings and gave up three runs.