Lucky enough for the Stars, the AMC Softball Championship Tournament was held right in our backyard, and with
semi-homefield advantage, the Stars hoped to pounce on teams early.
In game one, we had #7 Stephens College taking on #2 Missouri Baptist in what was easily the most exciting game Tuesday morning. The squad came out swinging early and often, leading off the game with an infield single by
Anabel Throckmorton, followed up by the hardest hit single you'll ever see by Anabel's counterpart,
Avery Throckmorton.
Aubrei Roland came in at the cleanup spot, hitting a hard fly ball into right field which the fielder was unable to track down with accuracy, thus scoring two for the Stars. In the bottom half of the inning, the Stars were hit with their own set of errors that caused Missouri Baptist to score three.
By the bottom of the third inning, MoBap was reading Tath's pitches, hitting two home runs in the inning and extending their lead to eight, taking a 10-2 lead. However, with this Stars squad, opposition leads were never safe. In the top half of the fifth inning,
Avery Throckmorton got it going with a solo shot to left field followed by an
Elise Kendrick two-run bomb, closing the gap on MoBap. In the bottom of the inning, Missouri Baptist was able to secure an ever-so-important insurance run from a sacrifice fly.
It was do-or-die time for the Stars in the top half of the seventh inning, down six runs. Once again,
Elise Kendrick came in and hit yet another two-run homer over the center field wall, scoring pinch runner
Lydia Yeager. Two batters later, after an
Ellie Kliethermes single,
Mariah Thibodeaux got her first home run of the season, placing it almost exactly where Kendrick did only a few pitches prior. Unfortunately, the game ended after a hard-fought effort and comeback by the Stars as they looked to continue this momentum into game two in the loser's bracket against #6 Williams Baptist.
Game two started right after 3 PM, Tuesday afternoon against a team Stephens College knew very well. Much like in their first game, the Stars came out and put two runs on the board with ease by putting the bat on the ball and making WBU make plays. A throwing error and small ball style of play allowed the Stars to move runners into scoring position causing Williams Baptist to shift where gaps opened up for ground balls to slip through.
The middle innings of the game were all WBU, as they scored nine runs from the second to the sixth innings. As the bottom of the sixth inning approached, the Stars knew their season was on the line and it was essentially go time. Patience, walks, and singles net the Stars four runs in the bottom half of the inning. In the top of the seventh, WillBap was able to get that ever-so-important run on a controversial call at home plate, making it so the Stars would have to get another four runs to keep their season going. The Stars clawed for every run that inning with solid hits to the outfield, loading up the bases and keeping runners constantly on to put pressure on Williams Baptist scoring yet again another four runs setting up extra innings!
Something awoke the Williams Baptist players in that top half of the inning as they were able to put eleven on the board and the Stars were just out of juice by their bottom half of the eighth, eventually falling 21-10.
Take away this last inning for the Stars and these two tournament games showed this team has a ton of grit and mental toughness with only one graduating player, the Stars already have their eyes set on what is to come next year.
