When Dripping Springs pitcher Kiele Miller allowed three consecutive base runners to begin Friday’s game, softball coach Wade Womack wasn’t fazed.
Miller was reeling, with a run already on the board for Medina Valley before an out was recorded.
Womack didn’t visit the mound to console his young pitcher. Instead, he just waited because he knew what would happen next.
Miller, like she has all season, buckled down and rebounded with six consecutive scoreless innings to secure Dripping Springs’ 4-1 victory Friday night.
The Tigers clinched its second consecutive district title before its regular season finale Tuesday night against Marble Falls.
“She started off a little slow ... After that she settled in and got stronger as the game went on. That’s usually her M.O.” Wade Womack, Tiger softball coach
Miller’s bounce back performance, which encompassed seven innings allowing one earned run and six hits allowed, gave Tigers’ slow-starting offense time to get going. Junior left fielder Paige Leschber drilled a pitch to left field in the second inning to drive in the team’s first run. Leadoff hitter Cami Corona scored on Miller’s RBI single in the third inning to reclaim the lead.
But Medina Valley pitcher Ariel Montgomery didn’t budge much, forcing the district-leading Tigers to work during every at-bat.
“I told our girls ‘Medina Valley just doesn’t give up,’” Womack said. “Those girls battle and battle and battle. We had to execute to come with the victory.”
Executing meant doing the little things. The Tigers scrounged together a few runs by getting on base via walks, bunts and moving runners over with timely fly balls. Womack said the team broke the school record of 118 stolen bases in a season during the game.
“Our speed was the difference in the game,” Womack said. “We just put pressure on them offensively and got runners in scoring position. We came up with some clutch hits and scored some runs.”
Dripping Springs’ small-ball approach was enough to gain a lead, but they needed a little extra to finally put them over the top.
The breakthrough didn’t happen until the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior catcher Dani Northrup drove a pitch that labored on the outside of the strike zone to deep right field for a RBI triple. Miller scored easily from first base as Northrup slid head first to third base just before the tag.
Leschber’s soft line drive over the outstretched hands of the retreating second baseman gave her another RBI and the Tigers’ fourth run.
Miller took the baton from the offense and closed out Medina Valley in the seventh inning for the Tigers’ 24th win of the season.
For Womack, the victory seemed sweeter than the rest. For one, Dripping Springs clinched the district’s top seed.
The win also reaffirmed the team’s process. Two years ago, this team missed the playoffs with a 13-15 record.
Two years later on senior night, in front of a home crowd, on a night Dripping Springs rose to the occasion just like they have all season.
“As a group that just bought in,” Womack said. “Just watching realize they can do things they didn’t think can do. They keep grinding and I’m going to miss them. They’re special.”
