Tyler Legacy Softball

WHITEHOUSE — It was a long wait to return to the playoff Tyler Legacy Lady Raiders.

In the postseason for the first time since 2015, the Lady Raiders had to wait a few more hours to take the field.

The game was originally scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Faulkner Park and was then moved to Whitehouse for an 8 p.m. start. But after Texas High forced a Game 3 against Huntsville, Legacy’s game against Sachse didn’t get started until 10:28 p.m.

For Sachse, two big innings did the trick as the Lady Mustangs took a 9-0 victory in the game that ended at 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

“That’s been our bugaboo, the big inning,” Legacy head coach Justin Kniffen said. “We compete, compete, compete and then big inning. We’re just not going to be a complete ball team until we can compete consistently and avoid those big innings.”

Legacy pitcher Presley Johnston retired the first eight batters she faced. Rylie Clam drew a two-out walk in the top of the third, and Nevaeah Watkins followed with an RBI double to break up the no-hitter and the shutout. A two-out error extended the inning and scored another run before Kelsea Flores delivered a two-out triple to push the score to 4-0.

That score remained the same until the top of the seventh inning when the Lady Mustangs added five more runs. Madison McClarity had an RBI double, and Kayla Olthouse had a two-run triple and scored on an errant throw to third.

Olthouse also had a big night in the pitching circle for Sachse (21-7-1). Olthouse struck out 14 batters with no walks in the one-hit shutout.

“She threw strikes,” Kniffen said. “She wasn’t going to walk us. We didn’t make contact. When you strike out 14 times in 21 outs, you’re not going to beat anybody.”

Maddie Carrillo got the lone hit for the Lady Raiders (19-9) with one out in the third inning. Olthouse followed that with six consecutive strikeouts.

The last four batters for the Red Raiders — the top four in the order — all put the ball in play in their final plate appearance during the third time to face Olthouse, which could be a building block heading into the rest of the series.

The series will continue at 2 p.m. Saturday at Wylie East High School.