San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Hornets hope added experience leads to a repeat of playoff run
East Central enters the 2024 softball season with a young team full of veterans.
The Hornets return five starters (one senior) and two more letterwinners from last year’s squad that was 25-16 and made a historic run that ended in the Region IV-6A finals. No Hornets team had ever gone that deep into the playoffs. That provides an ideal situation for the Hornets’ fourth-year coach, Maggi Welham, going into their season opener against Taft on Tuesday.
“They might be young in age, but they are absolutely very seasoned with their experience, and we’re just hoping to add to that,” Welham said.
The Hornets’ youth came through big last season starting with pitcher Jenise Ramirez, who excelled as a freshman starter. She finished with a 16-10 record with 75 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA in 154 innings pitched.
She set the tone the Hornets needed to fly as far as they did.
“She is fierce,” Welham said of Ramirez. “She is strong. She is composed. She is mature, and she’s just a fighter. When she got in that circle, she didn’t look 15 (years old) at all. She might be small in stature, but she pours her whole heart and soul into everything she does.”
The Hornets followed Ramirez’s lead, especially through a treacherous playoff run in which the Hornets faced four district champions. After being eliminated in the second round the two previous seasons, the Hornets broke through with a programrecord postseason run that lasted five rounds.
East Central lived on the edge each round as they found ways to press forward. They made it past the second round on shortstop Izzy Estrada’s walk-off double in the bottom of the tenth inning for a 6-5 victory against Dripping Springs in the third game of their best-of-three series.
“That was a real turning point for our program,” Welham said of the series win against Dripping
Springs.
The Hornets were on the verge of elimination before they tied the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh that sent the game to extra innings.
“Honestly, I was in shock,” Estrada said of her game-winning hit that bounced to the fence in the left-center field gap. “I was so proud of myself, so proud of my teammates and I was proud of my pitcher since we were both freshmen.”
The Hornets faced elimination again in the Region IV-6A semifinals after dropping the opening
game of a best-of-three series against reigning state champion O’Connor. After evening the series with a 7-0 Game 2 win, East Central sealed the series in when then-sophomore first baseman Isabella Hernandez singled in Kyana Lipardo in the eighth inning.
“We beat the defending state champions, and we were just excited, and all of our adrenaline was up,” Hernandez said. “I’m getting goosebumps talking about it right now. It’s a great memory.”
Catcher Bella Valdez is the team’s lone senior. She
led the team with seven home runs and 18 RBIs last year. She was a freshman the season Welham took over the program, and Valdez credits her coach for the Hornets’ rise.
“She took this program, put it on her back and rolled with it,” said Valdez, who is signed with St. Mary’s. “She knew what she wanted, and she wanted to make us better. She makes us feel comfortable and feel like we are at home. I look forward to coming to practice every single day.”
Welham said she is always searching for teambonding ideas. Her most recent one was a visit to Build-A-Bear.
It was, of course, a hit. Several players carried their stuffed animals to practice Thursday afternoon.
Welham believes those types of bonding experiences allow players to accept important support roles. She noted sophomore pitcher Jamilyn Hart as an example. With Ramirez as the established starter last season, Hart not only provided relief, but she enabled the Hornets’ hitters to face a live arm during practice sessions.
“I was helping them get more reps in with active pitching,” Hart said. “The experience was surreal. We were going five rounds into the playoffs. This has never been done at the school. It was exciting, and I was glad to be part of the team.”
The Hornets fell one round short of the UIL state tournament last year after San Benito defeated them in two games in the regional championship. East Central wants another chance at it, but they know it won’t be easy.
“We learned how to be calmer in the bigger moments,” said Lipardo, a junior outfielder who led the team with a .424 average. “Now that we’ve been there, we know what to expect. We can do it again, but even better.”