SULPHUR SPRINGS, Texas—It didn’t take Liberty-Eylau long to turn Chris Southard’s smile into a frown.

Frisco Wakeland’s softball coach juggled his lineup Friday to let sophomore sensation Alexis Cantu bat leadoff, and the strategy paid off early when Cantu was hit by a pitch, raced all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a grounder to second.

That was to be the Lady Wolverines’ only run as Cantu’s counterpart Lacey Middlebrooks hurled a two-hitter from the mound and drove home two runs with a single and her fifth home run of the season, enabling L-E to a...