Last week, 15 teams from all over Texas traveled to Franklin Communi ty Park to participate in the 12 and Under softball state tournament. Games were played Monday through Friday in a double elimination style tournament to crown a champion. Out of Rockdale, the Venom qualified as the only team to play in the tournament. After many hardfought battles throughout the week, the Venom earned a second-place finish.
The Venom started out the tournament on fire as they didn’t lose a game in the first three days. Their first loss came on Thursday against the Burton Strike Force on a 6-5 comeback.
On Friday, the Venom played their first game against the CGSA TTAS BG Lady Lions. Both teams came into the contest with one loss. The Venom handled their business as they beat the Lady Lions 12-8 to advance to the championship.
In the championship game, the Venom lost a heartbreaker as they came up short in their rematch against the Burnet Strike Force 9-8.
In the first inning, the Venom stuck first when Kylee Harris drove in two runs with a single. The Venom dominated both sides of the ball in the first two innings as they scored five runs and gave up zero on defense.
The Strike Force began to come back in the third inning scoring three runs to trim the Venom’s lead to two. In the fifth, the Strike Force scored a commanding four runs to take the lead 9-6.
The game went down to the wire. In the 6th and final inning, Riley Luton hit a double on a fly ball to bring in two runs. The Strike Force walked Harris with Luton at second base. Marissa Balderas hit a pop-up ball near third base for the second out. For the final at bat, Teal Brockenbush hit a line drive to center field. The ball was caught by the center fielder to end the game. “We played a pretty sol
“We played a pretty sol id game,” Rockdale Venom Head Coach Lucas Hairston said. “We had them offset for a good while. Both teams played well and it was a fun game to be a part of.”
The Venom tallied 11 hits. Chabela Delgadillo and Luton each managed multiple hits. Delgadillo went 4-for-4 at the plate, hitting a single in the first, second, third and sixth innings.
Taylor Martinez was on the hill for the Venom. She went one and one-third innings, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out one and walking one. Emma Miller threw three and twothirds innings out of the bullpen. She allowed seven runs on four hits, striking out two.
Coach Hairston explained how he was proud of his team and expressed how the girls could learn a valuable lesson despite the loss.
“Our girls battled all week to put themselves in a position for a championship,” Hairston said. “They put in a lot of hard work this season. Of course, you want to win the championship, but it’s not all about that. It’s about building the girls up for other opportunities in their lives and teaching them to handle adversity in the right ways.”
The Venom had an outstanding year. They finished the regular season with a perfect 15-0 record and went 4-2 in state tournament play.
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