The Lady Panther softball team traveled to Boerne to battle the Lady Greyhounds and lost, 3-9, on Tuesday, March 9. In the first inning, Blanco started strong with two runs scored. The Boerne team had one batter cross home plate. Defensively, the team faltered, making seven errors. Boerne took advantage of the missed balls and bad throws, adding seven runs by the end of the game.

Callie Culton pitched, giving up nine hits with six strike-outs. Leslie McClinton batted 3 of 4 and Megan Brown went 2 of 4. Kelsey Schwind and Callie Culton each hit a sacrifice for an RBI.

The Blanco Junior Varsity chalked up an 11-8 victory over the Boerne JV. Angel Williams and Mishelle Calzoncit pitched for the Panthers.

In the Fredericksburg softball tournament on March 12 and 13, the Lady Panthers were the only 2AA school and faced some tough competition against Ft. Worth Country School, Fredericksburg, Bandera, and Pearsall.

The ladies took a loss against the Ft. Worth Falcons, 5-7. Culton pitched, giving up five hits with five strike-outs and two walks. Six errors on defense allowed the Falcons too many easily scored runs.

Megan Brown had two RBI’s, while Schwind and Calzoncit each had one. Leslie McClinton, Callie Culton and Hayley Fishbeck each hit a single. With the first double-play of the season, Lacee Hunter caught a long fly ball, then sailed it in to the pitcher. Culton then hit Fishbeck at 2nd for the second out.

Fredericksburg defeated Blanco 1-5 in the next game. Again, the defense faltered with six errors. The Fredericksburg pitcher tallied ten strike-outs; however, Lacee Hunter nailed a pitch for the team’s first home run of the season, sailing the ball just inside the left field line. Chandler Ashley pitched five innings for eight hits, no strike-outs and no walks. Another outstanding double-play was made by Hunter, McClinton, and Culton.

In the next game, Blanco posted a 4-2 win over the Bandera Bulldogs. In a clever coaching decision, the Blanco pitchers alternated innings, upsetting the Bandera batter’s rhythms. Culton and Ashley pitched the seven inning game. Fishbeck batted 2 of 3, while Hunter and McClinton hit 1 of 3. Brown and Schwind each hit a double and Calzoncit hit a sacrifice for two RBI’s. In another double-play, Fishbeck caught a line drive and then threw to McClinton at 2nd for another out.

In their final game, the Panthers were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation with the Pearsall Mavericks, but lost 2-4 in the tie breaker. Calzoncit hit a double, Gustafson and Culton added RBI’s, and Hunter went 2 of 3 for two doubles. In the 4th double-play of the tournament, McClinton fielded a grounder and threw to Schwind for the out at 1st and Schwind tossed it to Gustafson at home plate for the second out.

All tournament selections for the Panthers were Lacee Hunter, Chandler Ashley, and Callie Culton.

The ladies will face Natalia this Friday at 6:00 p.m. here in Blanco. On Tuesday, March 23, they play another home game against Harper for their district opener. JV starts at 5:00 with varsity following at 7:00.