The Bryan National 10- and 11-year-old girls softball team beat Bryan United 14-11 on Wednesday to win the District 33 championship and advance to the Section I tournament.
A steady, misting rain fell for most of the game at Henderson Park. It wasn't enough to halt the game, but it proved to be a nuisance for the pitchers as the constant drizzle kept the softball slick. After the third inning, coaches even put a towel out at the back of the pitching circle, which helped a little. Still, there were 15 walks and seven hit batsmen out of the 61 total plate appearances.
In the fourth inning, United got the second out on a fielder's choice grounder that the catcher fielded. She threw to the third baseman, who tagged out United's runner trying to get back to third base.
At that point, United ran off the field thinking it was the third out. The runner on first base alertly started circling the bases and touched home as the only player left on the field. Umpires ruled that since she had not left the field of play and there were not three outs, the run counted.
That gave National a 12-9 lead. United scored three runs over the next two frames, but National scored two more runs on fielder's choice grounders in the bottom of the fifth to take the decisive third game in this series.
Carli Holekamp picked up the victory for National, pitching all six innings while striking out six and walking five. Teammate Adrienne Pinkney was 0 for 1 but scored three runs after she walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Catcher Makensie Young was 3 for 4 with two doubles, 3 RBIs and a run scored.
For United, Devon Garcia was 1 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored. Teammate Ashlee Howard was hit by two pitches, stole a base and scored two runs. Second baseman Emily Chumchal was 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored. She also reached on an error in the fifth.