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Lovejoy softball holds off Mansfield Legacy in opener of Region II final

ROCKWALL -- With Mansfield Legacy chipping away at an early deficit Friday, senior Amanda Gray lined a two-run home run as the Lovejoy softball team regained control on its way to an 8-3 victory in the opener of a best-of-3 Class 4A Region II final. Gray’s two-out homer to right center was her eighth of the season and third of the playoffs.

“I wasn’t sure if it was a home run,” Gray said. “I didn’t know until I saw my teammates coming out of the dugout. I was just thinking about getting the run in from third.”

Lovejoy (33-8) and Legacy (31-8-1) play Game 2 at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rockwall, with Game 3 to follow if necessary.

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Gray helped give Lovejoy a 3-0 lead in the top of the first with an RBI single after a pair of walks. Amanda Conner added a two-run single.

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Legacy rallied within 3-2 in the fourth after senior Kolbee Gray scored both runs following a triple and double. But Lovejoy took a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth as Gray homered to drive in Sammi Curry.

“That was huge, a game-changer for us,” Lovejoy coach Amanda Douglas said. “We needed something big.”

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At catcher, Gray provided one of two key defensive plays as she threw out Legacy’s leadoff runner trying to steal in the bottom of the first. Lovejoy’s Autumn Keefer also helped douse a  Legacy rally with a running catch in right field.

Lovejoy capitalized on Legacy errors to take an 8-3 lead with a three-run sixth inning. Lovejoy scored its first five runs against Legacy’s hard-throwing junior, Kendall Potts, a Baylor pledge  who has made a comeback after a mid-season wrist injury.

In its second regional final in three years, Lovejoy is a victory away from its first state tournament.

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“We’re staying humble and working off that,” Gray said. “We talk about staying focused on one  at bat at a time and an inning at a time. That’s all we’re thinking about.”