Early on Monday, Angelina College’s Emilee Cernosek promised an elderly gentleman a home run for his birthday.
She more than delivered, blasting a first-inning grand slam to lead the Lady Roadrunners to an 8-1 win over Galveston College in Monday’s opening round of the Region XIV Softball Conference Championship tournament in Lufkin.
Cernosek drove in another run later in the game to give her five RBIs for the game. Kaylee Ancelot added an RBI single in the fourth, and Nikki Whitehead drove in another run in the fifth to propel the Lady ‘Runners into Tuesday’s winners’ bracket.
Shelby Mixon pitched a complete game to earn the win in the circle, scattering six hits and allowing just one Whitecap run.
Cernosek fouled off several pitches before connecting on a 2-2 count for a long shot over the right-centerfield wall to stake Mixon to a four-run lead. Cernosek would score a run in the third after drawing a walk and crossing the plate on Rachel Agnello’s fielder’s choice.
In the fourth, Jessica Husband led off with a single and came around to score on Ancelot’s single. Cernosek then plated a run with her long double off the wall in right. AC capped its scoring day with Agnello’s double followed by Nikki Whitehead’s RBI single off the third-base bag.
In other tournament action, Tyler blanked Coastal Bend 8-0, San Jacinto shut out Bossier Parish 8-0 and Blinn beat Kilgore 9-0. The Lady Roadrunners will face the winner of the Blinn Colleg at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu
