San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Canyon H.S. on short end of state title game, 5-3
AUSTIN — New Braunfels Canyon senior Paige Meloni made the rounds, going one teammate to the next, from one coach to the other, and finally to a team manager.
In the grand scheme, Meloni expected the emotional display. She expected the hugs, pats on the back and for her eyes to be filled with tears. She and her teammates, though, fully believed it would be the byproduct of a celebration and not utter heartbreak.
Atascocita erupted for five runs in its final two at-bats and rallied to stun New Braunfels Canyon 5-3 Saturday in the
UIL Class 6A softball state final before 958 at McCombs Field.
The Cougarettes (29-2) were denied of a shot at their second state title and first since 2009.
“It’s just real hard because we’re all such a big family,” Meloni said. “I love all these girls to death and would do anything for them.”
Canyon had handcuffed Atascocita (35-7) for four innings, getting out of a few jams as senior pitcher Brooke Vestal allowed no runs and only three hits while striking out seven, including four straight.
As has been the case for most of the season, Vestal was replaced by Aliyah Pritchett after four frames. Pritchett sandwiched walks around an infield hit as Atascocita loaded the bases with no out.
A Baylor commit, Pritchett recorded two strikeouts and appeared on the cusp of getting out of the situation when second baseman Sydney Owens made a diving stop of a hit by Lesly Miranda and flipped it to shortstop Sydney Belvin at second.
Atascocita outfielder Lillie Grotenhuis was called safe at second, allowing Skylar Wilabay to score and tie the contest at 1-1. Outfielder Lauren Bazan scored to put the Eagles ahead 2-1 on a wild pitch.
“Softball, baseball, it’s always a game of inches,” Owens said. “Sometimes calls go one way, sometimes they go the other. Sometimes the wind blows and it blows it one inch foul. It’s all just part of the game. Things happen, things go certain ways.”
The Cougarettes responded in the top of the sixth, reclaiming the lead at 3-2 when Pritchett led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored in a collision at home plate on Owens’ single. Owens moved to third on the throw and scored on outfielder Bailey Zibelin’s double.
Atascocita, though, had a reply. The Eagles loaded the bases again and tied it 3-3 on a passed ball, went ahead 4-3 on a sacrifice fly and completed the scoring on a wild pitch.
“We’re kind of used to taking care of things when it gets deeper in the game,” Canyon coach Kevin Randle said. “We expect things to go our way. It is a little bit tougher knowing that we had a lead late in the game, but I give that team a ton of credit. They never quit, they never gave up, and they kept fighting us and putting the pressure on us until we finally broke just a little bit.”