Mexico softball has struggled against Hallsville the last couple years and did so in summer scrimmages on July 12.

The Lady Bulldogs lost the first game 11-1 in five innings at Gallop Field in Mexico before dropping a 9-1 contest. Mexico was playing in its first games with head coach Curt Riley and plans to prepare for the fall season in the next two weeks prior to fall sports dead week.

Riley said Mexico had one practice with him on the field since he accepted the job and were without two or three players because of other summer commitments. Judging from what he observed against Hallsville, who Mexico lost to 13-8 in the Class 3 District 6 Tournament last season, the Lady Bulldogs definitely need to tighten up their defense, and he is confident that will be done after some more practice.

“Defensively, I could tell we had not put a lot of time in,” Riley said. “We’re going to get better at that. I thought, the first two or three innings, we were as good defensively as we’ve been all summer.”

Hallsville took a 2-0 lead in the second inning off Mexico pitcher Emma Cunningham before Hannah Loyd scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half of the inning to make it 2-1.

Mexico lost the handle on the game in the fourth inning, when Hallsville took a 7-1 lead after scoring three unearned runs off two throwing errors.

In Game 2, Hallsville took advantage of more shaky defense in the first inning to lead 3-0 early before taking a 5-0 advantage in the second inning, threatening to score more. Shelby Shramek pitched out of the bases loaded jam, finishing with five strikeouts in 32/3 innings. Eboni Mayfield relieved her in the fourth inning, striking out four along with two runs and two hits allowed.

Sadie Ray drove in Mexico’s lone run in the second inning as the Lady Bulldogs finished four hits in the game and five for the day. Mexico also struck out 13 times across the two games.

“Offensively, we didn’t put the ball in play enough,” Riley said. “Their pitching was pretty good.”

Riley said the team runs on a schedule of one practice day and three weight lifting days per week and adhere to it until dead week goes from July 30 to Aug. 7. Practices for fall sports officially begin on Aug. 8.

So far, Riley’s time with his new team has been short but has liked what he has seen from his team.

“I’ve got some people that had to play out of position because we had people not here,” Riley said. “The more positions you play, the more opportunities there are for you. I’ve got kids that are willing to play anywhere, and that just, to me, makes them look a lot better in my eyes and that’s what you want to see out of your high school team. They’re great kids. I’ve really enjoyed my time with them.”