Panthers prepped for postseason run
McClanahan has high expectations for Ridge Point in Region III-5A
Ridge Point softball coach James McClanahan has never had low or even medium expectations. Simply put, he believes his team can win every game.
Now that the playoffs are here, that is especially the case.
The Lady Panthers this week will begin defense of their Region III-5A championship. Winning last year was great, but McClanahan also remembers losing in the state semifinals.
If everything goes perfectly this season Ridge Point will keep winning once it gets to the state tournament.
“My expectation are pretty far out there,” McClanahan said. “We’re exactly where we need to be. We are looking forward to the playoffs.”
With so many victories every year it is tough for McClanahan to find major weaknesses. The biggest turning point this season actually came in a loss.
Ridge Point’s only significant challenge in district play the last two years has been Santa Fe. The Lady Indians won the first meeting, 3-1, on March 22, but Ridge Point suffered more than a loss.
They realized they were splintered and divided.
Santa Fe won the rematch, 4-3, on April 15, but the Lady Panthers came out of it in a better spot.
“Even though we came up short, the kids came together,” McClanahan said. “It was a step in the right direction.”
This year’s seniors have had a lot to do with that. Four of them have signed to play college softball. Gabby Garrison is headed to Missouri. Emily Kiethley is headed to Louisiana-Monroe. Emily Flores has signed with Houston-Victoria and Lindsey Longuet with Southwestern.
Helene Febre and Allison Washington have proven valuable, too, with their ability to fill in at various spots around the diamond.
They are leading a team McClanahan said is stronger than last year’s team.
“I don’t want to downplay the girls we lost from last year’s team, but a lot of this year’s success has to do with what they did last year,” he said. “The girls have gone from thinking I am selling them a pipe dream to realizing they really can do it. The girls from last year paved the way.”
Last year’s team got hot in the playoffs once it survived a nailbiter in the first round. Eventually the Lady Panthers got a chance to face Santa Fe in the regional championship series and won it in three games.
Nobody would be surprised if the same teams meet in this year’s regional final, but there is a long way to go before that can happen. In the mean time, the Lady Panthers are going to embrace the target on its back.
“We enjoy that,” McClanahan said. “At Ridge Point, we have the philosophy that we expect to win every time we take the field. It’s easy to win the games when you’re not supposed to win. We flip it upside down and we say we’re supposed to win every time.”