McKINNEY – It didn't take Plano West coach Mike Ledsome long to decide how to try to get his team out of a seventh-inning jam in the decisive third game of a Class 5A Region II quarterfinal series with Garland.

It took even less time for Garland's Rose Stubbs to foil Ledsome's strategy. Her one-out single through a drawn-in Plano West infield brought home Heather Wilson from third and gave Garland a 3-2 victory.

Garland (28-5-2) won the best-of-3 series and advances to play Klein Oak in the regional semifinals.

"I just tried not to think about it," Stubbs said. "Coach always tells us that sometimes when you try to focus real hard, you think too much. I just tried to hit the ball."

After Wilson had reached third with one out, Ledsome was faced with the choice of moving the infield in or walking Stubbs intentionally to set up a double play. The latter strategy would mean pitching to Garland's No. 3 hitter, Tomi Garrison, who was 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly.

Ledsome admitted afterward that he probably would have walked both Garrison and Garland clean-up hitter Fra'Shekia Knight had PlanoWest (29-8) been able to get Stubbs out without Wilson scoring.

Ledsome almost got to see his strategy through as Stubbs fell behind in the count, 1-2, before bouncing the winning single up the middle.

"When she's up there, she doesn't think," Garland coach Cindy Mosteller said of Stubbs. "She just reacts to the ball."

The single was Stubbs' second hit of the game. She tripled in the first inning and scored the game's first run on Garrison's lineout to right field.

Garrison went the distance to get the win and improve to 21-3-2 this season.

C. Anthony Mosser is a freelance writer in Plano.