Waxahachie softball uses 5th-inning rally for 6A Bi-District title

A six-run fifth inning secured a 7-1 6A bi-district championship victory for the Waxahachie Lady Indians on Saturday afternoon.

NaLee Nichols tripled into right field to plate Brooklynn Warrix to start the rally in the winner-take-all single-game playoff against Copperas Cove at West High School. Bryten Burns later singled into left field to plate Nichols for a 3-1 Waxahchie lead and the rout was on.

Zaryah Williams (2 RBIs), Kaden Vire and Brynne Grammer also singled to ballon the Lady Indian lead to 7-1 and help improve Waxahachie to 27-7 on the season.

Kylee Raney (17-4, 2.57 ERA) earned the win inside the circle, striking out 10 Lady Bulldawgs and allowing just one run on six hits over 7 complete innings.

The senior Raney has 179 strikeouts to 83 walks with 52 earned runs over 141.2 IP.

The game was pushed from Friday evening to Saturday due to the weather.

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Waxahachie now faces (27-4-1) Rockwall in the 6A area round of the postseason. The Yellowjackets swept Garland (14-2, 8-3) to advance to round two.

A relatively young squad, Rockwall is led at the plate by sophomores Taylor Minor (3HR, 16 RBIs) and Presley Brott (.333 BA, 3HR, 24 RBIs), junior Ava Wallace (.394 BA, 2 HR, 12 2B, 30 RBIs, 28 R) and seniors Zoe Quinn (.429 BA, 3 HR, 15 RBIs, 27 R) and Audra Henderson (2HR, 14 RBIs).

Ainsley Pemberton (21-2, 1.02 ERA) is the ace of the Rockwall staff. The junior has struck out 205 batters to just 33 walks over 144.2 IP.

Game one of the 6A area championship between Waxahachie and Rockwall is slated for 6 p.m. Friday in Rockwall. Game two will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday in Waxahachie. Game three, if necessary, will feature a 6 p.m. first pitch on Monday, May 8 at Forney High School.