Cougars fight their way into postseason
Hurdle cleared, Cinco Ranch now turns attention to long stay
The playoff streak is alive.
But Cinco Ranch had to scratch and claw its way in again, finishing fourth in District 19-6A for the second straight season.
The Cougars softball squad, 7-20 overall, finished 5-7 in district. “We knew going in we would have to be carried by the pitching we had last year and a couple of juniors who played quite a bit last year,” coach Jerry Miller said.
“(But) just like last year, we’re better now than we were in February and March.”
They went 6-6 last season and finished 9-19 overall, with Bellaire sweeping them in the bi-district playoffs.
They’ll see Bellaire in the first round again this season.
They meet for another best-of-three series, with Game 1 at 7 p.m. Friday at Butler Stadium and Games 2 and 3, if necessary, starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cinco Ranch – and the gap may be wider.
Last year, the Cougars still had two Division Ibound players.
They’re much younger this time around, with two freshmen who start and several sophomores in key roles.
Miller said it’s just the cyclical nature of the game.
“You can turn on just about any college game now and we’ve probably got a kid playing in it,” he said. “From 2011 to right now, we’ve had a last one kid playing big-time college softball, and this year we’ve got four or five.
“When you lose that kind of talent, regardless of who you bring in, it’s hard to replace.”
This year’s Cougars are trying hard to do so.
They’re playing hard every night and constantly striving to improve, but a non-district schedule built to prepare teams for district and state championships chases didn’t do this young squad any favors.
They took plenty of lumps early on.
“When you play the schedule we play, there are no off games, especially early in the year,” Miller said.
The Cougars have shown the most growth defensively.
They’re also playing with more consistency in the circle and at the plate, but they’re not there yet, Miller said.
They lost two tough games to Mayde Creek by one run.
They played a solid Seven Lakes squad to a scoreless draw through five innings last week – only to lose 8-0.
But Cinco won when it had to.
It put together a threegame winning streak earlier this month, with wins over Katy Taylor and Tompkins.
The 9-7 win over Tompkins, which it lost to in the first round (8-6), all but clinched a return to the postseason, with Tompkins dropping two games last week to finish one game back in the standings.
“The first time we played Tompkins, we’re winning 5-0, and we lost 8-6 because we made errors,” Miller said. “You can’t make errors against anybody. We played much better defense (the second time), and when you play defense you’ve got a chance.”
The key players are senior pitchers Camerin Wilkins and Courtney Glover, senior second baseman Macey Esser, junior shortstop Isabelle McKiernan, junior third baseman Kaylin Mchalec and freshman center fielder Kylie Neel.
Junior catcher Sydney Stone carried the offense most of the way at cleanup, but she suffered a seasonending knee injury in the win over Tompkins.
Sophomore catcher Hailey Cook took her place behind the plate.
Wilkins, Glover and freshman Aliana Marroquin all start games – and all pitch every game since midseason.
“We don’t have any overpowering kids,” Miller said. “We have kids who throw strikes, but one or two times through the lineup, and that’s it. We’ve got to get them out, get somebody else in and give them another look.”
Esser, who bats third, is the last remaining starter from the 2014 team, which went undefeated in district. McKiernan is the scrappy leadoff, Neel the lefty two-hole hitter and Michalec the cleanup.
They fell 12-0 to Bellaire two months ago in The Woodlands tourney.
“They’re well-coached, their kids play the game right, they’re fundamentally sound (and) they don’t make too many mistakes,” Miller said. “I expect them to come out and play extremely well.
“I don’t want to say we’re going to have to be perfect, but we’re going to have to be pretty stinking good.”