Midland Trail girls headed back to region round

May 6—hico — Following a year on the shelf, the Midland Trail High softball team will once again make an appearance in the Region 3 tournament series next week.

And, head coach Candace Young says the No. 2 seed Patriots earned that region berth against James Monroe as the result of a "gritty" performance Wednesday against No. 1 Greenbrier West in the Class A Region 3, Section 2 championship.

The Patriots bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit Wednesday by pushing across one run in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to escape with a 3-2 triumph and eliminate the Cavaliers.

Trail got its first run when the hosts loaded the bases twice in the fourth inning, and Trinity Wilson draw a walk from West hurler Brilee Redden to account for the initial tally for the home squad. A force at home plate for the third out left three Patriots stranded and the score still in Greenbrier West's favor, 2-1, heading into the fifth.

Trail freshman pitcher Madison Rader, who struggled slightly in the game's early stages, retired the Cavaliers in order on the top of the fifth to set the stage for some timely offense in the home half.

Jenna Stonestreet walked, then Rader sacrificed her to second base on a bunt. Stonestreet later moved to third before racing home on a throw to first on a fielder's choice by Naveah Hall, knotting the game at 2-2. Hall advanced to third on a two-base throwing error, and she eventually plated the game-winning run by eluding the tag at home plate after some delayed base running.

The Cavaliers couldn't generate any more offense down the stretch, as they went three-up, three-down, with the sixth frame featuring two solid defensive plays by Midland Trail third baseman Anna Weaver.

"They're gonna be the death of me," said Young. "This is three (section championships) for them (her seniors). The last time we did that I was a player here (she's a 2005 graduate), so it's kind of cool to do it again.

"Three out of four, I'll certainly take that. And they (the Cavaliers) have not been easy to get through three out of four times. We knew it was us and them. I give (Greenbrier West coach Tony Hinkle) all the credit. They're a great, great team. I'm just so proud of going back to regionals. It's kind of surreal, but it's been a good day."

"It was brutal," Hinkle said. "Just real frustrating. That's just the way to put it.

"It was a ball game, and we didn't expect anything different. Had a few walks in one inning that really hurt us. ... We kind of lost our way right there. ... Just bein' honest, 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'll sit up all night thinking maybe I shoulda, but they played real good defense. ... I've only got to see them play twice, but by far, this was really good defense.

"We hit the ball well last night and we figured we was going to hit the ball well, and we put it in play well, they just made the plays. Basically that's what it came down to, they made the plays."

"They're young," he said of the Patriots. "They got some good times coming."

Young said her team's prevent effort was a huge key. "That was the difference, I think," she said. "When we went up there ... we had double-digit errors. That was the big thing, that we clean it up, and we knew they were probably going to target our third base line and that was the big thing we practiced whatever days we got to practice, when it wasn't pouring the rain. Just cleaning up the defense. We couldn't have 10 errors and get a win."

She said her players simply did what they had to do to secure the championship plaque. "Yeah, we're, I guess the right word is gritty. There's no other word. We're kinda gritty. We sometimes absolutely hit the ball like crazy and then when the game's like this, we kind of have to manufacture stuff. And that's what I told them in the huddle, we gotta manufacture something, whether that's laying down a bunt, short changing something, stealing it, whatever, we're gonna grit one out somehow."

Of Hall's late base running, Young said, "I don't really put reins on her when she's on the bag. Sometimes it goes in our favor and sometimes it doesn't. But most of the time it does. She's really athletic, she's really agile. She can fake you one way and then come back. Maybe it has a lot to do like with the volleyball or the basketball, where you just cut and go.

"She'll bait you to throw, and she's not afraid to get down and get dirty. I told her 'You've got to get in there, and she usually does.'"

Greenbrier West scored the game's first two runs in the third inning. Maddie Fields reached on an error, and Rader put Preslee Treadway aboard by plunking her. Fields and Treadway moved into scoring position on a double-steal, then Julia Herndon stroked a triple that banged the fence between center and left field, scoring them both.

The Cavaliers stranded two runners in each of the first two frames, with Trail left fielder Jesse Skaggs making a pair of nice catches in the field to help keep them at bay.

Redden retired Midland Trail in order in the bottom of the third, including two strikeouts. But, the Cavaliers left one on base in the fourth and couldn't take advantage.

Rader later got a three-up, three-down fifth inning from the Cavaliers.

"Her mentality is not (of a freshman)," Young said of Rader, who struck out six and yielded two hits, one earned run and three walks. "You know, you walk the first two batters, a lot of freshmen crack with that. She settled in.

"She just kept coming back and kept coming back."

Following the two free passes to start the game, Rader struck out the final two West batters of the inning. Hinkle said his team needed to do some damage in the game's early stages. "Yep, first two innings," he said. "Two on in the first. Two on in the second. You gotta come through when you need to."

Midland Trail captured the first game last week in extra innings in Crawley. The second game was originally scheduled for this past Monday but was postponed two straight days due to rain. "You know, you're anxious," Hinkle said of the break between games. "You wanna get through. You know, both teams gotta go through that and there wasn't nothing they can do. The field was in horrible shape. I mean, they did a good job of getting it ready. I mean, would we love to play at home (for the if-necessary game), absolutely."

The Patriots will face James Monroe in the best-of-three region series next week. The Mavericks will host the first game, likely on Tuesday, Young said.

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