Ridge Point gives fans tough decision
With both baseball and softball in playoffs, Panther faithful have to be in two places at once
Some Ridge Point fans will have a difficult decision to make this week. Do they support the baseball or softball team in person. Of course, the real die hards might find a way to do both. There will be lots of purple and white on the diamond Thursday, Friday and maybe Saturday as both Ridge Point teams continue their postseason journeys.
The softball team will meet Willis in a best-ofthree Class 5A, Region III semifinal series at the University of Houston. The baseball team is into the third round and will face Crosby in a best-of-three series at La Porte.
While the baseball team is this deep in the playoffs for the second time, the softball team is getting used to long postseason runs. The Lady Panthers have been at least to the third round four years in a row. They went to the regional final in 2013.
“The kids at Ridge Point have been spoiled,” coach James McClanahan said. “It’s huge to get to the regional quarters. They’re a little naive and expecting it like it’s where they’re supposed to be. They don’t understand how big a deal it is.”
What they do understand is that winning a regional title would be an even bigger deal. McClanahan did that when he coached Elkins. Now he’s hoping to lead Fort Bend ISD’s newest high school to the same success.
This year’s team may have the offense to do it. The Lady Panthers have scored 27 runs in four playoff games, including 18 in a two-game sweep of defending regional champion Barbers Hill last week.
If Ridge Point is to advance to its second regional final in three seasons, it will take one of its best efforts against a strong Willis program. Ridge Point is no pushover either. The Lady Panthers have known what it takes to win in the playoffs ever since McClanahan took over.
“We’re playing well right now,” he said. “The frame of mind is good. The kids genuinely like being with each other. From the person who may play every inning to the kid who doesn’t get as much game time, they all work great together.”
Like the softball team,
the baseball team has a coach who had great success at another Fort Bend school. Clinton Welch built Dulles into a powerful program and is trying to do the same in his first year at Ridge Point.
So far, so good. Now the Panthers hope their dominant pitching continues. Ryan Stanley and Tyler Vlasek each have pitched two complete games in the playoffs. The Panthers have allowed two runs in those four games.
“(Pitching) has definitely been strong in the playoffs,” Welch said. “Consistency was an issue througout the season, but the potential has always been there.”
The Panthers likely will need to maintain that level of pitching or something close to it if they’re going to advance past Crosby. Like any team this far in the playoffs, Welch said