With the District 5-5A title already in hand, the No. 4 Aledo Ladycats hosted one more district game with Granbury entering Ladycat Softball Field on *Tuesday night. Furthermore, the Ladycats celebrated their Senior Night as Grace Heath, Gracie Jones, Austyn Marriage, Taylor McKean, Marina Taveras, Addie Perry, and team manager Olivia Brown were honored after the game.
“They’re just phenomenal young women all around. They are the epitome of a student-athlete, but they are kind people, too,” Ladycats head coach Heather Myers said. “Sometimes, you meet athletes and they are really arrogant, these girls are not arrogant. They’ve brought a lot of class into this program and watching them grow up in their game and seeing the maturity in their game is incredible to see as a coach. To see them be good human beings is even better. I’m so proud of them and I will definitely miss them.”
The game itself was scoreless through one inning, but the Ladycats got things rolling at the plate from there as the defense and pitching remained dominant. Ultimately, McKean’s perfect game on the mound, coupled with a seven-run fourth inning, fueled Aledo to a 10-0 win in five innings.
“I think what makes playing at Aledo different is our mentality because we really are like a family,” Taveras said. “We play for each other and you just don’t find that everywhere.”
“I’ve never had a team like this,” Marriage said. “I’ve known what it’s like to be somewhere without this kind of chemistry, and I’m so grateful for it [chemistry] — it’s life changing. It shows up when we’re on the field and in how we play — it’s amazing.”
The powerful blend of an authentic bond mixed with sheer talent and execution was on full display throughout Aledo’s home finale. Taveras helped record the first out of the second inning with a beautiful play from her shortstop position. On a high-flying hit to the shallow outfield, Taveras turned and tracked the ball then made an impressive one-handed catch on the run. After that, McKean recorded consecutive strikeouts to give the offense a chance to strike first blood in the bottom of the frame.
The star pitcher led off the inning with a standup triple, and was eventually sent across home plate via a sacrifice fly from sophomore Rylee Marx. After that, Heath electrified the crowd with an inside-the-park home run that also scored Jones, who had previously drawn a walk, stole second base and then advanced to third on Marx’s sacrifice to give the home team a 3-0 advantage.
Following a scoreless third inning, Aledo saw its offense reignite with a highly productive fourth inning. Marriage started things off with a standup double to left and her courtesy runner, Tempe Perry, scored in the next at bat after a Marx RBI single. Then, Addie Perry’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0 after Marx scored, and junior third baseman Kyleigh Pawlak added two more runs to the lead after she roped an RBI double down the left field line.
The scoring flurry continued with a hard-hit RBI single to center by Taveras that pushed the lead to 8-0 with one out. McKean then provided the exclamation point with a two-run blast over the right field wall as the lead swelled to 10-0. The pitcher then recorded three more strikeouts in the top of the fifth to clinch the victory via run-rule.
“It is so basic but obviously we have a lot of emotions because this team is a family,” Marriage said. “I want to say despite the challenges they (younger players) might come across, you’ve got to stick it out with these people because they’ll love you like nobody else will.”
The team’s heartfelt ceremony following the game’s conclusion provided a harsh reality for the seniors but also an overwhelming amount of gratitude for what has passed along with what is to come.
“I’m very excited and with our final goal being getting back to state, I can’t wait to try to get there with these girls,” Taveras said. “Just going through this together will be special. Even if we don’t get there, which we should, I know just being with them will be enough.”
McKean recorded 12 strikeouts to go with a hitting line of 2-for-3 with two RBI, a triple and a home run. Heath had two RBI from her inside-the-park home run while Taveras finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored while Perry hit a double and produced an RBI. Jones scored once and Marriage added a double.
The Ladycats (23-3, 11-0) will play their regular season finale at 7 p.m. *Thursday at Azle ahead of what they hope and expect to be another long postseason run.
“They know that we’ve won district, but we are going to attack Azle with a lot of discipline at the plate and a lot of consistency on defense to take into playoffs,” Myers said. “We know that on any given day, any team can show up and beat us just like we can beat any team. We have that never-quit mindset, and they’re looking forward to a long playoff run, but they know it’s going to take one pitch at a time and one game at a time. We’re not jumping to see who we’re playing next, we’re going to stay in it until somebody knocks us out, which hopefully does not happen.”
Ladycats dominant in weekend contests
The Ladycats’ impressive season continued with a district rout Friday night, April 11, and a strong non-district win Saturday. First, the Ladycats used a staggering 13-run sixth inning to separate from Saginaw and followed that up with another quality performance — a 7-0 win at Boswell.
Before their penultimate week of district play, the Ladycats held a 7-0 advantage at Saginaw before breaking the game wide open in the sixth inning. In that frame, Aledo scored 13 runs and cycled through its entire hitting order. Leading the charge was Kellyn Overturff, a junior outfielder who posted a herculean statline. Overturff packed plenty of power into her bat as she accounted for both of Aledo’s home runs. She clubbed a grand slam and a three-run shot to account for her team-high seven RBI.
Additionally, Rylee Marx had two hits and three RBI — highlighted by her RBI triple — and performed exceptionally in the circle. The sophomore threw a no-hitter across all six innings with 13 strikeouts against two walks allowed. Kayleigh Martin also collected a pair of hits. Tempe Perry, a freshman, finished 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI while Gracie Jones, Grace Heath, and Breleigh Mayer each had one hit, and combined for five RBI and six runs. Addie Perry and Jordyn Edington were also strong on the base paths as each scored three runs.
On Saturday, Tempe Perry and senior ace Taylor McKean teamed up to shut out Boswell as McKean started the first three innings and Perry came to the mound for the last four. McKean gave up one hit and struck out nine batters while Perry posted four strikeouts and surrendered two hits.
Offensively, Aledo collected six hits and scored multiple runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. Overturff’s bat continued to scorch as the offensive leader once again. She finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double and scored two runs while McKean and Kyleigh Pawlak each added RBI singles. Addie Perry also drove in a run.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here