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high school sportsSoftball

Forney rallies late to beat Ennis, gain state softball berth

Team advances to state tournament in Austin for 2nd year in a row

RED OAK — Going into the top of the seventh inning Saturday night, the Forney softball team was getting no-hit and was three outs from seeing its season end.

But for the second time in three days, the state’s second-ranked Class 4A team rallied in the final inning to beat No. 1-ranked and District 15-4A rival Ennis. And now Forney is headed to the state tournament in Austin for the second consecutive season and for the third time overall.

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Forney scored twice in the top of the seventh and beat 15-4A champion Ennis, 2-1, in Game 3 of a best-of-3 4A Region II final series at Red Oak High School. Forney (32-7-2), last season’s 4A state runner-up, will find out its opponent for Friday’s state semifinal when the UIL announces the state tournament pairings Sunday.

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“It feels awesome. It’s the greatest feeling ever,” said Forney junior catcher Krista Williams, who drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly. “We just knew we needed to get on base and take it one hit at a time. All of our hits are contagious. If one person hits, the rest of us hit.”

After allowing 10 runs and 16 hits in Friday’s 12-10 win, Ennis sophomore pitcher Taylor Maliska took a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead to the top of the seventh. The only base runner for Forney up to that point came when Taylor LeFlore reached on an error leading off the second. Maliska (26-5) then retired the next 15 hitters.

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But two days after scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to win Game 1 of the series, 6-5, Forney produced another dramatic rally.

Jasmine Lusk led off the seventh with a single, and Taylor Penn followed with a single to put runners on first and second. LeFlore then bunted, but an error on the throw to first allowed a run to score, making it 1-1.

With runners at first and third, that brought up Brooke McCarroll, who hit two home runs Friday and had 15 homers for the season, tied for the most by an area player. She was walked intentionally to load the bases with no outs.

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Williams hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Penn and give Forney a 2-1 lead. Forney senior pitcher Danielle Najera then retired Ennis (36-6-1) in order in the bottom of the seventh to complete her three-hitter.

Najera allowed five runs in 11/3 innings Friday before being replaced by a reliever. She found out about 30 minutes before Saturday’s game that she would be starting. So was she nervous?

“I’m nervous all the time, but my defense had my back,” Najera said.

Ennis, trying to make it to the state tournament for the first time, got just its second hit of the game in the bottom of the sixth when Maliska led off with a single. Shelby Pruitt gave Ennis a 1-0 lead with a one-out RBI triple.

West 5, Kennedale 4: Kelsey Hoelscher hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to give her team a 5-1 lead, and West hung on to win Game 2 and sweep the 3A Region I final series at Burleson Centennial. Kennedale scored three runs in the seventh, but a groundout with runners at first and second ended the game.