Bay Area Sports

March 20, 2008, 2:47PM
NEIGHBORHOOD HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP

By L. SCOTT HAINLINE
Chronicle Correspondent

Tough in 24-5A

District 24-5A boasted four teams in last week's Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 5A state softball rankings with Brazoswood No. 2, Alvin No. 4, Clear Lake No. 13 and Clear Creek tied for 20th.

Clear Lake stumbled 13-0 at Pearland in its district opener on March 3 with a key player or two missing, but after that recorded shutout victories over Clear Creek, Alvin and Ball.

Clear Lake senior Beth Evans pitched a perfect game in the home win over Ball, and allowed only four hits against Alvin.

Alvin, considered the favorite by many, had a rocky return to league action last week after finishing third at the Arizona Tournament of Champions.

The Lady Yellowjackets dropped decisions to Clear Lake and at Brazoswood 1-0 before bouncing back to even their district record with an 8-0 victory at Clear Brook.

"You have to fight and scratch your way for every win in 24-5A," Alvin coach Carla Newsom said.

One of Alvin's top players, senior left-hander Amber Anderson, returned from recent knee problems to pitch five no-hit innings against Clear Brook.

Senior right-hander Tiffany Denham, part of Alvin's one-two circle punch, gave up one hit over the final two frames.

"It was good to see Amber getting back on track," Newsom said. "Our bats also came alive, and that was nice to see, too."

Clear Creek's 0-4 start had the Lady Wildcats scoring only one run and playing shaky defense, and Clear Brook's two early wins came against Clear Creek 3-1 and Ball 4-2.

Tonight's contests have Ball at Pearland at 7 (Pearland won), and Alvin at Clear Creek (Alvin won), and Clear Brook at Brazoswood at 7:30 (Clear Brook won), with Clear Lake open.

On Tuesday, Alvin is open, with Pearland at Clear Brook, Brazoswood at Clear Lake, and Clear Creek at Ball. All games are set for 7 p.m.

Coming into this week, Brazoswood had not lost a game at 19-0-1 and was 3-0 in district.