by MOSES LEOS III
Everything seemed to be going the way of the Hays Lady Rebel softball team in their Regional Semifinal series with Corpus Christ Moody. Hays managed to take game one and was just one away from sweeping the series.
Then the bottom fell out.
Moody rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two, forcing a third and decisive contest on Friday night.
Despite the devastating loss the night before, Hays persevered, rallying back from a two run deficit in game three to claim the Regional Semifinal series from the Moody Lady Trojans. Hays advances to the Regional Final, where they will meet up with Leander on Memorial Day weekend.
In game one, Hays claimed a thrilling 1-0 victory in a true defensive battle. Big plays kept Hays one step ahead of the Lady Trojans, including when Lady Rebel right fielder Brayden Pinckard rocketed a laser beam to catcher Haleigh Madden, tagging out a Moody base runner in the first inning.
The Lady Rebels earned the only run of the game in the fourth inning. Hays pitcher Sarah Leal was sound throughout, allowing only seven hits and striking out four in the game.
However, in the fifth, with two outs and two on base, Moody center fielder Kayla Serrato walloped a sure-fire extra base hit to deep left field. Traci Green made a running snag to end the Lady Trojans’ final threat of the contest.
Game two saw Hays jump out to an early lead. Two errors in the top of the second allowed Hays to score the first run of the game. In the top of the third, first baseman Clarissa Gonzalez brought in third baseman Maddy Shannon via an RBI single, giving Hays a 2-0 lead.
Yet the Lady Rebels struggled to adjust to Moody pitcher Brittany Martinez. Her style frustrated the Lady Rebels, who made contact but saw their hits directed to Moody defenders.
As a result, Hays left runs on the base paths. In game two, Hays left ten runners on base; they stranded 18 for the series. Martinez’s pitching was the crux of the Lady Rebels struggles.
“She was not the best pitcher we’ve seen all season, but she kept us off-balance and kept us from hitting to our potential,” Ramsey said.
Hays managed to keep its 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on first, and two outs, Hays only needed one out to secure the sweep.
Then the trouble began.
Until that point, Hays had gone 21 and 2/3 innings without conceding a run. That streak ended when Moody left fielder Catherine Barrera doubled to the right center field gap, scoring a run to cut the Hays lead to 2-1.
One batter later, shortstop Jessica Mendez flied to left field. Traci Green, who made nearly every catch the entire series, saw the ball pop out of her glove, scoring Barrera to tie the game.
After two surrendered walks by Leal, Moody had the bases loaded for Serrato, who drove in a two-run RBI single to give Moody a 4-2 win.
The 30-minute intermission between games was somber. Head coach Aaron Fuller helped the team regain its composure.
“I told them great teams, championship teams, have speed bumps like this,” Fuller said. “Any championship is not easy; you have to fight for it. Great teams have to overcome this.”
Hays fell into a 1-0 hole in the first inning then countered with runs in the first and second innings to take a 2-1 lead. Moody tied the game in the third, but Hays continued to battle, taking a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning, highlighted by a triple from Pinckard.
By the fifth inning, fatigue took its toll. Hays’ Leal, who pitched all 21 innings of the series, allowed the first seven Moody batters to reach base, scoring three runs in the process. With one out and the bases loaded, Fuller halted play and talked with his ace pitcher. Despite her fatigue and the Lady Trojans’ success against her, Fuller decided to keep Leal in the game.
“I asked her, ‘how do you feel,’ and she said, ‘I feel fine.’ When you have a player that tells you ‘I want the ball’, you don’t take the ball out of their hands,” Fuller said.
Leal’s confidence in her ability, as well as her teammates in the field, kept her going.
“I told myself that I was going to get through this. I knew that I could get through this,” Leal said.
The Lady Rebel offense began to battle back against an equally tired Martinez. Hays scored a run in the fifth to close the Moody gap at 5-4. The breakthrough occurred in the sixth.
With two outs and two Lady Rebels on base, Shannon stepped up to the plate and delivered a bases clearing RBI double, giving Hays a 6-5 advantage going into the final inning.
Fuller was proud of the way his team battled back from adversity.
“It’s unbelievable the fight these kids have and it’s all through the lineup,” said Fuller. “They refuse to lose. I am so proud of them.”
Moody attempted one last rally, getting runners on first and second with one out, but Leal forced two consecutive pop ups to end the series.
Leal complimented the Moody offense.
”They came out so alive [all series long]. I definitely give props to (Moody) and their hitting,” Leal said. “I knew my defense was behind me. We did a fantastic job of that. I am so proud of my girls.”
Hays’ seniority and experience played a role in the team’s win.
“We all were a little down [after game two]. Between games, we talked and told ourselves, ‘Forget about the game. This is now a one game series,’” Ramsey said. “We talked, picked each other up and rallied around each other to come back and get the win.”
The memory of 2012’s disappointing loss in the Regional Quarterfinal motivated the team to pull through.
“Anything great, anything worth fighting for is not going to come easy. Our kids have put in the work and put in the time since we got knocked out last year,” Fuller said. “We’ve had these goals and aspirations for over a year. To get knocked down and get back up time after time, it’s gratifying to know that these kids are going to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
The job is not done for the Lady Rebels, according to Fuller. Dreams of reaching the State Tournament at McCombs Field in Austin are now on the horizon. In their way stands an equally determined Leander team.
“We are ready for the next round. We are pumped and ready to make it to state,” said Shannon.
For Leal, it is all about taking things one at a time.
For us, we take things one step at a time,” Leal said. “That’s our motto – one pitch at a time, one inning at a time. If we do that, we’ll be fine.
Hays will play Leander in a best of three game series. The first game of the series starts at 7 p.m. on Friday. Games two and three will be played as part of a double header at noon on Saturday. All games will be played at Elgin High School.
