Lewisville breezes past Blackville-Hilda, without star pitcher

Even with its star pitcher hopping around out of necessity and not excitement, the goals haven’t changed for Lewisville softball.

The Lions crushed an overmatched Blackville-Hilda Thursday night 18-0 in five innings. The first round 1A state playoffs win sends Jerry Thomas’ team into a second-round district tournament home game Saturday.

“We’re on our third goal of the season right now,” he said. “We’ve accomplished two of them and there are two more to go.”

Lewisville lost in last year’s 1A Upper State title game to eventual state champs, Dixie. Its chances of returning to a fourth straight Upper State tournament – on the heels of a fourth straight Region 3-A championship captured earlier this week – took a hit at last weekend’s Come-See-Me Festival when standout sophomore pitcher Chloe Thomas fractured her ankle playing kickball. She stepped on a base funny and rolled her ankle, causing her to spend both games this week watching from the dugout in blue jeans instead of blasting fastballs past opposing batters.

Thomas had thrown three no-hitters already this season, but the Lions – who have no seniors on their roster and only three juniors – have no choice but to press on without her.

“They were a little bit devastated by it at first,” said Jerry Thomas. “But then they just realized ‘We need to step up, we still have more games to play.’ We had to keep moving on.”

Turning point

Five runs in the first inning and seven in the second blew open a first-round mismatch. Grabbing 12 runs in the first two frames ensured that Lewisville probably wouldn’t be playing past the fifth inning.

Critical

The blowout allowed Lewisville to empty its bench. The moves included two innings of relief work on the mound for Abby Thomas.

“Got everybody in the game, give everybody that opportunity and experience to play in a playoff game,” said Jerry Thomas. He said he hopes his daughter’s injury strengthens a young and potential-laden team for the coming seasons, not just this spring.

Star contribution

Thomas hit the ball all over the park for the Lions, while Lauren Crocker crushed a fly ball over the right fielder and touched all three bags before crossing home for an inside-the-park home run.

On deck

Lewisville plays the winner of Greenville Tech-Whitmire on Saturday in the second round of the District 3 tournament, while Blackville-Hilda plays the loser in an elimination game.

Box score

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Lewisville breezes past Blackville-Hilda, without star pitcher."