Highlassies defeat Florida Southwestern State, advance in national tournament

The McLennan Highlassies came from behind to defeat the Florida Southwestern State Buccaneers 8-6 tonight in an elimination game at the NJCAA Division I Softball National Championship. Kayleigh Williams picked up the win in the circle in relief of Chanlynn Turner. 

Florida Southwestern began the scoring with one run in the bottom of the first as Mikayla Werahiko doubled and scored on a single by Molly Roark.

McLennan tied the game with a run in the top of the second as Victoria Gonzales singled, advanced around to third on a ground out by Elizabeth Svienty and scored on a single by Andrea Gonzales. 

The Buccaneers took the lead with a run in the bottom of the second as Graysen Gladden tripled and scored on a single by Tori Foster.

The Highlassies tied the game at two with a run in the top of the third. Marisa Flores and Theresa Gonzales both singled. Both runners advanced on a ground out by Victoria Gonzales. Serena Saldivar flied out and Victoria Gonzales scored on an error by the Buccaneers' catcher.

Florida Southwestern took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third as Werahiko singled and scored on Roark's home run.

The Buccaneers added two runs in the fourth. Samantha Luckett doubled and scored on a single by Marta Fuentes. Criza Bulanadi drew a walk. Werahiko followed with a double to score Fuentes.

The Highlassies began to chip away at the lead, scoring two runs in the fifth. Dariann Resendez singled and moved to second on a ground out by Flores. Theresa Gonzales followed with a double, scoring Resendez. Victoria Gonzales singled. Theresa Gonzales then scored on a fly out by Saldivar. 

McLennan added another run in the sixth as Resendez singled, moved to second on an error and scored on a single by Flores.

The Highlassies sealed the win with three runs in the top of the seventh. Theresa Gonzales drew a lead-off walk and Victoria Gonzales was safe at first on an error. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Saldivar. Theresa Gonzales came in to score on a throwing error. Andrea Gonzales singled, bringing Victoria Gonzales. in to score. Haley Webre reached first safely and moved to second on an error, bringing Andrea Gonzales in to score.

McLennan will face Tyler at noon (MST) Friday in an elimination game.

McLennan 8, Florida Southwestern 6
McLennan 011 021 3 – 8 12 1
Florida Southwestern 112 200 0 – 6 12 6
Chanlynn Turner, Kayleigh Williams and Andrea Gonzales. Courtney Gettins and Molly Roark. WP: Williams; LP: Gettins. Leading hitters – McLennan: Marisa Flores (2-4, RBI) Theresa Gonzales (2-3, 2B, RBI), Victoria Gonzales (2-4), Serena Saldivar (0-2, RBI) and Andrea Gonzales (2-4, 2 RBI); Florida Southwestern: Marta Fuentes (1-3, RBI), Mikayla Werahiko (3-4, 2 2B, RBI), Molly Roark (2-4, HR, 3 RBI), Graysen Gladden (2-3, 3B), Tori Foster (3-3, RBI) and Samantha Luckett (1-3, 2B). Record: McLennan 43-13 (26-6).