MOSS BLUFF — The face in the pitcher’s circle for the Sam Houston Broncos was different, but the results were similar, as freshman Tanner Wright tossed a shutout to lead the Broncos to a 7-0 win over Barbe Wednesday in their District 3-5A opener.

Wright is filling in for Baylee Corbello, the state’s reigning Miss Softball. Corbello, who has led the Broncos to three state championship games and two titles, has yet to be cleared to pitch after suffering a rib injury.

Wright showed there is no need to rush Corbello back, holding the Bucs to three hits while striking out eight. She also went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Broncos (1-1, 1-0) head coach said Wright is showing poise beyond her years.

“She has been doing outstanding, she is doing well handling the pressure,” said Broncos head coach Beth Domingue. “In the jamboree and against Teurlings (a 1-0 Sam Houston loss in the season opener) she got out of some tough situations; she does not seem to get rattled. She has done extremely well.”

Offensively, the Broncos capitalized on Barbe errors, scoring four unearned runs on eight Barbe errors. Alli Fields had two hits and drove in three runs and Tori Lantz added a pair of hits and drove in a run.

“I am glad we are at least hitting the ball on the ground and making them make plays,” Domingue said. “Hopefully seeing some live pitching will help us down the road as we get rolling.”

Barbe (0-4, 0-2) has one position player, first baseman Bailey Thibodeaux, playing the same spot as last year.

“We have had better games than this,” said Barbe head coach Sarah Portie. “Our pitcher (Layna Savoie) gave us a chance to win. She got ground balls. They hit two balls hard to the outfield. We just didn’t make plays. (Wright) was mixing it up and keeping us off guard. We didn’t know what to expect.”

Thibodeaux, Bailey Bruchhaus and Dalana Thierry had hits for Barbe.

(Kirk Meche / American Press)

Kirk Meche