Tough Day on the Diamond
Lady Bulldogs down Lady Comanches in Class 1A final
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Coy Slavik - Victoria Advocate Sports Editor
Shiner Lady Comanche Softball | Return to Shiner Home Page
AUSTIN - There were a number of firsts in Saturday's Class 1A state championship softball game between Shiner and Bosqueville and they all went against the Lady Comanches.
Shiner's Maci Schaefer, the Lady Comanches' lone senior starter, fights back tears Saturday as she lifts the Class 1A state runner-up trophy. Shiner fell 4-1 to Bosqueville in teh state championship game at McCombs Field in Austin. photo by Harry Reese, Special to the Advocate
A grand slam was hit for the first time in a title game, Bosqueville won the first team state championship in its school's history, and Shiner lost for the first time in the state finals as Raygan Feight hit, of course, the first pitch from Shiner's Heather Haas over the left-field fence with the bases loaded to give the Lady Bulldogs a dramatic 4-1 victory at McCombs Field.
"I was hoping it was going to keep hooking foul," Shiner coach Brandon Siegel said of Feight's blast. "But I didn't wish it foul enough, I guess."
"I just couldn't believe it," Haas said of Feight's grand slam. "I had to look twice to believe it made it over."
Haas, who pitched a one-hitter in Shiner's 3-0 semifinal win over McLeod on Thursday, coasted through the first five innings. The sophomore extended her scoreless streak to 29 innings, allowed just one Bosqueville hit and retired eight in a row as the Lady Comanches' 1-0 lead appeared safe heading into the sixth.
"We had never seen her kind of speed before," Lady Bulldogs coach Clint Zander said.
But Grace Getman led off the sixth with a single in front of left fielder Lauren Michalec, and Haley Feight reached base when third baseman Amber Shimek failed to handle her bunt. After
Haas walked Michelle Miller to load the bases, Raygan Feight lined the first pitch just barely over the fence and about two feet inside the left-field foul pole.
"Raygan never swings at the first pitch," said Zander, whose team finished with a 25-7 record. "But she swung at it and the rest is history."
"Coach wants me to swing at the first pitch, but I just never do," Raygan Feight said. "I'm never really ready to swing at the first pitch. But I was relaxed, and I knew any kind of hit was going to score us a run. So I was thinking 'Let's go.' She sent it right to me, and I don't even know where it was. I just swung."
Shiner catcher Maci Schaefef knew exactly where the pitch was and couldn't believe that it could have been hit out of the park.
"I don't know how that girl pulled an outside rise ball to the left-field foul pole," Schaefer said. "It shouldn't have ended like that. I really felt like we were going to come out on top."
The Lady Comanches, who finished with a 22-7-1 record and were 2-0 in state final games before Saturday, mounted a two-out threat in the seventh as they loaded the bases on consecutive walks and a hit batsman by pitcher Ashley Barnes (11-1). Schaefer, who doubled off Barnes and scored Shiner's lone run in the fourth, came to the plate with the tying run on first, but flew out to center fielder Makenzy Antis to end the game.
"We battled to the end, but luck just wasn't on our side," Siegel said.
Shiner stranded four runners on base over the first three innings, but finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Schaefer led off with a standup double to the left-center field fence and scored on Morgan Ullmann's single.
"When we got that first run, we had a lot of momentum and adrenalin flowing," Schaefer said. "I thought we would carry it on to the finish."
The Lady Comanches looked like they would add to their lead in the sixth with two outs. With Schaefer at second base and Ullmann at first, Ieisha Flowers drove a hard-hit line drive to right fielder Morgan Elkins who misjudged the ball at first but recovered to make a backpedaling catch.
"That was big," Zander said. "That's how this game works. You can hit the ball hard, but if it goes right to somebody you're still out. We were lucky we made the plays."
"We put the ball in play and they just made the plays," Siegel said. "My hat's off to them. They're a great team."
Shiner ended Bosqueville's season last year by beating the Lady Bulldogs 6-3 in the regional finals. In 2002, the Lady Comanches routed Bosqueville 11-1 in five innings in the Class 1A title game.
"This was our year and our turn," said Raygan Feight, who was the Lady Bulldogs' only senior starter and will play at McClennan Community College next season. "We knew they were good, but we were better. We knew we could get the job done."
Shiner will also lose only one senior starter, Schaefer, and Siegel said he wouldn't be surprised if the Lady Comanches and Lady Bulldogs meet up again next season.
"They lose one player and we lose one player," Siegel said. "This is a tough one for us to swallow, but you have to look to the future and our future looks bright."
Game Summary Game of June 2, 2007 Score F Shiner 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 -- 1 Bosqueville 0 0 0 0 0 4 x -- 4 Highlights Class 1A State Final WP: Ashley Barnes (11-1). LP: Heather Haas (21-7). Highlights: (S) Haas 3-hitter, six strikeouts; Maci Schaefer 1-for-4, 2B, run; Morgan Ullmann 1-for-1, RBI. (B) Raygan Feight 1-for-3, grand slam, 4 RBIs, run; Barnes five-hitter. Records: Shiner 22-7-1; Bosqueville 26-7. Note: Bosqueville wins its first-ever state championship. 2007 UIL State Softball Tournament Info
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