Published: May 09, 2008 01:31 am            

Softball Shocker Heard ’Round the State

Lady Hornets blank second-ranked Brenham in regional quarterfinals

Absolutely amazing!

An overflow crowd at Bearkat Softball Stadium witnessed perhaps the greatest upset in the Texas high school softball playoffs this season.

The Huntsville Lady Hornets, who barely sneaked into the playoffs as District 18-4A’s third-place team, devastated the district champions and state’s second-ranked team, the Brenham Cubettes 2-0 in a single-game regional quarterfinal playoff matchup Thursday to dance into the fourth round.

Brenham (30-3) came into the contest as heavy favorites after claiming a pair of victories, 17-4 and 9-3 during the district slate, but that didn’t bother coach Nancy Hopper’s young group as they built off a tough three-game series with Houston Waltrip in the area round last week.

Sophomore Shelby Smith continued her masterful pitching by keeping the potent Cubettes lineup off the board.

“I’m just ecstatic,” an elated Hopper said after the game. “I’m excited, thrilled and so proud of our girls. It’s such a wonderful feeling, because it’s more than just the girls and how hard they’ve worked to get here. Looking up at the crowd and seeing how much the city of Huntsville is behind us means a lot to the girls. That’s a big part of it.”

Smith yielded four hits and played in front of an inspired defense. She stayed ahead of hitters most of the game, and the only two walks she issued were intentional as she stretched her scoreless streak in the circle to 27 straight innings.

“Shelby did an excellent job,” Hopper said. “She and (catcher) Nena (Gibson) are working so well together. Shelby just gets better each game.”

The contrast between her performance Thursday and the previous two outings against Brenham baffled Cubettes coach Wade Wilson.

“I don’t know (what Smith did to keep the Brenham hitters off-balance),” Wilson said. “We just couldn’t get it going and get the hit to bust things open. The previous two games that we played them, we did. That’s the difference — it’s contagious.”

An unselfish Smith was complimentary of her coaches and teammates around her.

“These Brenham girls were really good hitters and getting ahead in the count was a must,” Smith said. “You’ve got to hit your spots, know how to work the counts and the hitters. Coach (Brittany) Brumbelow did a really good job of calling pitches and Nena did an excellent job behind the plate.”

Left fielder Hayley Tatom and second baseman Michelle McGill collected two hits apiece off Brenham starting pitcher Kaci Federwisch.

“I was more aggressive at the plate tonight than I usually am,” the sophomore Tatom said. “We really needed those hits. She (Federwisch) hit her spots pretty well and we adjusted to her pitching speed quickly.”

Huntsville (18-15) prevented the Cubettes from striking first when Emily Albus, who led off the game with an infield single, was tagged out after oversliding second base on an attempted steal. Her teammate, Ashley Curry, followed the play with a single to left that could’ve potentially scored Albus had she reached safely.

The Lady Hornets struck quickly in their half of the first and held on to a one-run lead for much of the game until the Lady Hornets punched home a critical insurance run in the sixth.

Sara Vaughn led off the bottom of the first by legging out a single on a ball tapped just in front of the catcher Amy Balke. Tatom followed with a single past the diving second baseman Jensen Antkowiak to put runners on first and second.

Nena Gibson executed a sacrifice bunt to put the pair in scoring position.

Wilson elected to intentionally walk Tayler Gray to load the bases, and Michelle McGill did her job by putting the ball in play with a tapper to short. Albus fielded the ball cleanly but was unable to force out a speedy Vaughn at the plate, and Huntsville took a 1-0 edge.

“I was amazed how fast she was going,” McGill said. “I didn’t hit it real hard and I’m thankful that we scored there because we really needed that.”

Smith got in a groove in the second inning and retired nine straight Brenham batters until she surrendered a single by Balke to shallow right with one out in the fifth.

Smith struck out Antkowiak for the second out, but Corrie Gurka kept the rally alive with a single to right to put runners at second and third.

Hopper elected to issue Albus a free pass to load the bases.

Lane Jurden smacked a shot to third. However, Chantel Spretz, who was pinched in on the corner, threw the leather up and held on to the bobbled ball to put a dagger in the Cubettes’ hopes for a big inning.

After Brenham was sat down in order in the sixth, the Lady Hornets added a run to their slim lead.

With two outs, Antkowiak was unable to hold on to a routine popup. McGill, who reached base on a single and moved to second on a ground out by Smith, didn’t let up on the play and was able to touch home without a play to give Huntsville a 2-0 lead.

“I came up to the plate thinking all night that I needed to get on base and keep the chances going for my team to score,” McGill said. “It surprised me a little when I was coming from second and their player booted the ball, but I knew that anything’s possible with two outs. I just kept on running.”

The dramatics of a potential upset brewing set an all-time high in the seventh inning with Brenham down to its last three outs.

Brooke Turner began the inning by slicing a shot to deep right over the head of Jessica Beardsley and landed at second. Balke popped up to Vaughn behind the third-base bag for the first out. Antkowiak was retired on a grounder to McGill for the second out.

Smith popped Brenham’s No. 9 hitter, Cory Gurka, in the head to put runners at the corners.

Hopper talked it over with her team and elected to issue Albus, who had come into the matchup hitting close to .700, another free pass. That loaded the bases and put the tying runner at second.

“Coach Hopper told me to intentionally walk Albus so we could have a force at any base, plus we knew she was such a good hitter,” Smith said. “She could’ve hit it anywhere in the outfield and tied the game. We knew it was a good strategy.”

The strategy paid off when Spretz fielded a ball cleanly and stepped on the bag for the force out to end the game.

“We knew we could do it,” Smith said. “We’ve known all week.”

“All the credit goes to Huntsville,” Wilson said. “They certainly outplayed us tonight. That’s the bottom line. They’re a fine club and did a super job. They deserved to win.”

The Lady Hornets will await the winner of the regional quarterfinal series between No. 6 Richmond Foster (25-3) and Nederland (24-8-1) in the regional semifinals next week. The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Falcons played game one Thursday in New Caney and Nederland came away with the 2-0 upset.

“I told them that they better have some fun tonight, because we’re going to have a workout (on Friday),” Hopper said. “During sixth-period and after school, it’s back to work. You have to keep going. They didn’t have a problem with practicing; they know what they need to do.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.