MANVEL – Katy Taylor softball coach Billie Powell spent a few minutes before Friday night’s regional semifinal game discussing how tough it is for his ace, Sarah Blair, to become flustered in a tight spot.

Give her bases loaded and no one out, he said.

So it seemed fitting, then, that Blair and her stout defense squeezed out a 1-0 victory against Brazoswood in Game 2 at Manvel. Even though she allowed 10 hits, the Mustangs stranded 10 baserunners and Blair induced two clutch fly ball outs after a leadoff hit in the seventh.

Blair provided the game’s only run, hitting a home run off the top of the fence in left-center field in the first inning.

“We feel very fortunate we escaped,” Powell said. “Defensively it wasn’t just Sarah, it was us. Especially having given up (10) hits, that was a great effort.”

Game 3 will be at noon Saturday. The winner will play Bellaire or Alvin in the regional finals next weekend.

Brazoswood (34-4-1) defeated Taylor (26-10) 2-0 in Game 1 Thursday.

Blair slammed her seventh home run of the season with virtually no wind. It hit the yellow line atop the outfield fence and bounced out.

“That wasn’t the closest home run I’ve had; I had one go off a girl’s glove at Katy,” Blair said. “We knew the games in this series would be low-scoring so every run was going to make a difference, whether the score was 1-0 or 2-1. But I had no idea then it would be the only run of the game.”

Blair, who struck out four, repeatedly got out of jams. Brazoswood put two runners on in each of the first three innings but didn’t get a runner to third the entire game.

Lindsey Kappler led off the seventh with a single on the 10th pitch of her at-bat. Then Brazoswood’s speedy leadoff hitter, Meagen Bailey, sacrificed Kappler to second.

Kaysie Creech popped out to second, then came decision time as No. 3 hitter Ashley Kappler stepped in.

“We had a conference and basically we wanted her to walk – sort of an unintentional intentional walk,” Powell said. “If she hit the ball, she was going to have to go out after it. I told (rightfielder) Jill (Christian) that if (Kappler) hit the ball anywhere, it was going to be at her.”

And on a 2-0 pitch, Kappler flew out to right.

“I have great confidence in my pitching and even more in my defense,” Blair said. “I have total confidence in this team.”

And now Taylor gets the scenario it wanted, or at least the best-case option after losing Thursday.

“If you’d have asked what I wanted (before the series), I’d have said a one-game series. Now we’ve got it,” Powell said. “Anything can happen. The first two games have proved it.”

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