LA GRANGE—Thorndale softball seemingly faced an uphill battle in their regional semi-final matchup with Ganado after falling to the Maidens, 2-1 in Wednesday’s series opener.
However, the Lady Bulldogs were far from finished.
“The funny thing is that was the most confident team I’ve ever coached that just lost a game,” THS coach Lance Betak said. “We were so fired up on the bus ride home. Every series we play, we kind of take some time to feel the other team out.”
During the next evening, momentum tilted in favor of Thorndale as the Lady Dogs built an early 2-0 lead after three innings thanks to runs driven in by Kelsey Kovar and Raeghan Carlson.
Although GHS closed in on THS with a run in the top of the fifth to make the score, 2-1, that little bit of momentum was erased after the other half of the inning when Thorndale scored five runs to put them up 7-1.
Kovar got an RBI-double that brought in Emilee Baker and Natalie Garcia for two more runs while Kassidy Eubanks brought in Carlson and Brook Amidon with a hard hit single to center field. Reagyn Trahan also brought in Kovar on a hard hit ground ball misplayed by GHS pitcher Macy Kolacny.
Thorndale scored four more to end the game via the “10-run rule” after six-and-a-half innings.
Garcia and Kovar led at the plate with three hits apiece. Eubanks, Ginn and Baker each had one. Ginn struck out four and allowed seven hits in seven innings pitched.
GAME THREE—With a lot of steam left over from game two’s double-digit victory, the Lady Dogs started off hot. Baker tripled in the game’s first at-bat and was brought in by Kovar on a sacrifice fly to left field. Thorndale scored again when Ginn hit an RBI-single that Carlson scored on from second base.
THS earned another four in the top of the third with three of those runs coming in while there were two outs.
Ganado was far from finished The Maidens made it 6-2 with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Momentum swung in the direction of Ganado after the top of the fifth. Kolacny retired the side in 13 pitches and leadoff hitter Jurnee Green started off the other half of the inning with a base hit. Tables turned quickly as the Lady Dogs caught Green in a rundown as she was attempting to steal second.
“Rundowns are one of those things you work on every two weeks,” Betak said. “There’s so many things throughout a game that you just can’t work on every single thing for 15 minutes each practice. There’s not enough hours in a day.”
“It comes down to the girls executing. I tell them all the time that I still haven’t made an out this year, I still haven’t gotten a hit this year, it’s all them. So, for them to do that in a pressure situation when Ganado had a little momentum is amazing,” he added. “I was a hair concerned that we were going to lose our focus. But man, we couldn’t have been anymore focused.”
From there, Thorndale held on to win the game and the series.
Ginn, Bailee Baker and Emilee Baker led the Lady Dogs at the plate with two hits each while Kovar, Trahan and Eubanks had one apiece. Ginn retired six batters and allowed six hits.
GAME ONE STATS— Garcia and Emilee Baker led with two hits. Carlson, Eubanks and Bailee Baker had one. Ginn struck out six and allowed seven hits.
WEIMAR— A l i t t l e more than three years ago, the only thing that stood between the Lady Dogs and the state tournament were the Weimar Lady Cats.
Thorndale ultimately ousted WHS in a sweep (21- 6, 14-4) to move on to Austin and eventually become the Class 2A state runner-up.
Three years later, the two teams are set to face again to see which school will represent Region IV at the state tournament.
Betak said the Lady Cats have a couple of players on their roster from the last time the two schools faced, such as catcher Skylar Heger and shortstop Malarie Mican. Heger is a Bossier Parish Community College signee that Betak described as a good hitter. Mican, a left-handed slapper, has an offer to play softball at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, but also has multiple offers to play volleyball at the next level.
Their most notable player, on a team that made it to the state semi-finals in 2021, is junior hurler Reagan Wick. Betak described the Colorado State signee as someone who throws hard and also has a presence at the plate. The future Lady Ram is also known for her change up, which she uses primarily against batters in the one through five spots in the lineup.
For times and locations of games this week, see the box on Page 1B.
Thorndale vs. Weimar Region IV Finals
Game 1: 7 p.m., Wednesday (Mumford)
Game 2: 7 p.m., Thursday (Navasota)
Game 3: 7 p.m., Friday (Mumford)
Tickets: Sold at both gates.
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