The Waltrip Lady Rams softball team used a 17-hit barrage to defeat Yates 5-1 Friday afternoon at Waltrip field.  The win keeps Waltrip’s District 20-4A record perfect at 8-0 and its coach on track to win her 10th straight district title.

The senior trio of Aubrey Thompson, Alison Heidbreder, and Laura Sotiropoulos led the hitting spree, accounting for nine of Waltrip’s 11 extra-base hits in the game.  Thompson knocked in three doubles and a triple, Heidbreder added two triples and a double, while  Sotiropoulos hit a triple and a double.  The three had nine RBIs and scored 11 runs as the Rams plated 23 runs in the second inning. 

Other Lady Rams contributing extra-base hits included Emily Meyer and Pam Straker, both with doubles. 

Heidbreder got the victory, striking out seven Yates batters on her way to a no-hitter. Her season record is now 5-3 and 3-0 in district.   Yates, which could muster just three base runners on a walk, an error and a fielder’s choice, fell to 1-8 in district. 

With only four games remaining, Waltrip has a shot at finishing the district competition without a loss for the tenth straight time under coach Darcy Ruffino, now in her 11th season with Waltrip.  The undefeated string pre-dates her tenure as head coach and one year as assistant coach and could go back as far as 1993 or 1994, she said.   

“Every year the talent on the team has gone up,” she said.  Arguably, with three pitchers combining for five no-hitters against district foes and the team’s .336 batting average keeping pace with the area’s 4A leaders, the 2007 team could be Ruffino’s best yet. 

Anne Marie Taylor has posted outstanding performances against Reagan, the Rams’ toughest district foe this season.  Her 13 strikeouts against the Bulldogs in the Rams 5-2 victory last week earned her a place on the Houston Chronicle honor roll.  In 61 innings, she boasts a 1.033 ERA and 125 strikeouts. 

In fact, all three Ram pitchers have ERA’s under 2.0.  Abby Schumacher, who pitched five scoreless innings against Waltrip’s neighborhood non-district rival St. Pius this week, boasts an ERA of 1.61.  Heidbreder has a 1.75 ERA and leads all Waltrip hitters with a .471 average. 

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