FRISCO – Center fielder Lindsay Zabojnik scored one run, drove in three and came up with a big defensive play as Coppell defeated Plano, 6-1 in the decisive third game of their Class 5A Region I area playoff series Monday.
With the victory, Coppell (22-9-3) advanced to play Flower Mound Marcus in the regional quarterfinals.
Leading 1-0, Coppell broke the game open in the fifth inning. Rachel Forshaw led off with a double and scored on a single by Marisa Malazzo. Coppell went on to load the bases with two outs when Zabojnik sliced a drive to left-center. Plano left fielder Jessie Hart made a diving try, but the ball popped out of her mitt when she hit the ground. The double cleared the bases and gave Coppell a 5-0 lead.
Coppell's Peyton Mosley scattered seven hits over seven innings to get the win. She struck out seven, including two after Plano had put runners on second and third with no one out in the bottom of the fourth. Mosley got out the inning when Zabojnik made a snow-cone grab of Taylor Jensen's deep drive to center.
Plano finally broke through in the sixth when it collected three of its seven hits. Macy Burr doubled home the run but was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
Coppell's final run came on a homer by Malazzo leading off the seventh inning. It was her third hit of the day. Coppell pounded out 14 hits. Amber Clifford had singles in all four of her at-bats and scored in the fifth inning.
The only run in the first four innings came after Zabojnik led off the game with a walk and scored on Forshaw's fielder's choice. Coppell got its leadoff hitter on in each of the first five innings but had two runners thrown out at the plate.
