By C.J. Vetter
BUDA – The softball season for the Johnson Jaguars Varsity Softball team is wrapping up following its playoff games against the Georgetown Lady Eagles. The Jaguars played the Eagles two times over the weekend, losing 6-2 on Friday at Georgetown and 16-2 on Saturday at home yet ended second place in the district.
While the team would have liked to go on, it did move further in the district than last year, when it ended up third. Members also considered this year to be a success as the team has learned a lot and the players have improved their skills.
“It’s a tight bonded group, we started last year, first senior class this year, and they’ll graduate on our softball team as well,” said Head Coach Katy Snell. “Making the playoffs last year with no seniors was a big feat, and we’re building on the momentum we started and we were going with high expectations from the beginning.”
This year is also notable, as five players who had been with the program since it began at Johnson High are set to graduate. Kassidy New, Reagan Barrett, Celeste Cisneros, Ayanna Soto and Elaine Hatcher are all seniors this year and helped build the varsity softball team from the ground up for years to come.
“The senior softball players have instilled the expectations of years to come,” Snell said. “They’ve really set the foundation.”
The Johnson Jaguars tackled a difficult game against the Lady Eagles on Friday and gave a consistent defense. However, some good hits early on led to numerous home runs for Georgetown, giving the Lady Eagles an advantage that they kept running up until the seventh inning, despite determined efforts from the Jaguars to score as well.
Saturday played out similarly, with the Lady Eagles taking an early lead, before doubling down in the latter half. The Lady Eagles, who the Jaguars lost to previously last year, had also attended the state playoffs.
“We just gotta focus on what we can do better and not really so much on them because they’re just a really good team. We’ve just got to figure out how to be better,” Snell said.
Johnson High’s seniors are graduating on May 31. For more information, please contact Johnson High at 512-268-8512.