Despite all she’s accomplished during her standout high school career, Stamford ace Citlaly Gutierrez admitted to being nervous heading into Wednesday’s one-game Region I-2A championship matchup with district rival Hamlin.

And playing in front of a packed, standing-room-only crowd at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field, it showed for an inning.

But after seeing her only two walks of the game result in a pair of unearned runs, the flame-throwing right-hander settled in to dominate Hamlin the rest of the way, collecting 16 strikeouts and no-hitting the Lady Pipers in a 10-2 victory that earned the defending Class 2A champion Lady Bulldogs their second consecutive trip to the state tournament.