Gallery by Tina Laney
Hico – A Midland Trail senior group had not won three sectional titles over their softball careers since head coach Candace Young played.
That 20-year drought was snapped Wednesday night.
Riding another strong pitching performance from freshman Madison Rader, the Patriots scratched out a 3-2 victory over Greenbrier West to bring home the Class A Region 3, Section 2 crown.
Midland Trail advances to the Class A Region 3 tournament next week where it will meet James Monroe in a best-of-three series. The start date is still to be determined.
“I guess the right word is gritty,” Young said to describe how her team won. “Sometimes we absolutely hit the ball like crazy and then in games like this, we have to manufacture stuff. That is what I told them in the huddle. We have to manufacture something. Whether it is laying down a bunt, short changing something, stealing it, whatever. We are going to grit one out.”
After a thrilling comeback win over West in the first meeting which saw Midland Trail survive 10 errors on the night, the Patriots knew they could not win a game like that again.
“They played a real good defensive game,” Greenbrier West head coach Tony Hinkle said about Midland Trail. “That is where they were lacking. I have only seen them play twice, but this was a really good defensive team tonight. They just made the plays and that is the bottom line. That is basically what it came down too.”
A big reason the errors failed to doom Trail in the first meeting was the fact that Greenbrier West stranded 14 runners on base.
Wednesday, the Cavaliers missed on scoring chances in the first two innings that seemed to set the tone.
“You can’t do that. You have to come through when you need to,” Hinkle said. “When you are the top of the order, midway through, you think they will come through.”
Back-to-back walks gave West life right out of the gate.
Left fielder Jessie Skaggs made a great catch on a drive just inside the fence in foul ground, but could not prevent the runners from moving up a base.
Just like the opening game, Rader squelched the the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.
After missing on another scoring chance in the second inning, Greenbrier West took a 2-0 lead in the third.
Maddie Fields reached on an error to start the at-bat before Preslee Treadway was hit by a pitch with one out.
Julia Herndon then scored both runners when she ripped a shot off the left-center fence for a triple.
“The catcher (Herndon), I give her credit, she racked one off the fence, but it didn’t phase (Madison),” Young said. “She just kept coming back. Some things were working today and some things weren’t. Whatever I called, she was just giving it her best. I can’t say enough about her.”
Over the next four innings, Rader held West at bay and watched as her team found a way to score just enough runs to get the win.
The comeback started in the fourth frame when Trail cut the lead in half on a bases loaded walk to Trinity Wilson.
One inning later, the Patriots added two more.
Jenna Stonestreet walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Rader. Nevaeh Hall followed with a bunt single, but when the throw to first was high, Stonestreet came around to score and Hall advanced to third base.
Following a fly ball out that wasn’t deep enough to score the runner, Hall improvised.
Going halfway on a wild pitch, Hall induced a throw to nail her retreating to third. When the ball was released, Hall reversed direction, scoring the eventual game-winning run.
“Nevaeh is so naturally athletic, I don’t really put reins on her when she is on the bag,” Young said. “Sometimes that goes in our favor and sometimes it doesn’t. Most of the time it does. She is really athletic and agile, so she can fake you one way and come back.”
“Maybe it has a lot to do with the volleyball and the basketball where she can cut and go,” Young went on to say. “She will bait you a throw and she is not afraid to get down and get dirty. I told her she had to get in there and she usually does.”
The young pitcher did not allow a West base runner over the final two innings, but on this night Rader had help from her defense which made four putouts down the stretch.
“Just cleaning up the defense. I think that was the difference. When we went up there, we had double-digit errors, and the big thing was that we needed to clean it up,” Young said. “We knew they were probably going to target our third base (area) when they laid it down. That was the big thing we practiced.”
Greenbrier West made contact, but managed just two hits on the night.
“Not like they were last year, just being honest,” Hinkle said in regards to his team’s hitting. “We had a good practice last night and we put the ball in play a whole lot better today. I didn’t have to play as much small ball and I will sit up all night thinking maybe I should have.”
Unable to play since Friday night due to the rain in Hico, Hinkle did not see that as a factor in the loss.
“You are anxious and you want to get through it, but both teams have to go through that,” Hinkle said. “There was nothing they could do. The field was in horrible shape and they did a good job getting it ready. Would we have like to have played at home, absolutely, but they beat us at home too. I am not going to take anything away from them.”
