Tom Bean Lady Cats bow out of playoffs with loss

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Tom Bean Lady Cats bow out of playoffs with loss
By Adam Troxtell
May 10, 2008

Another beautiful spring evening met the Tom Bean Lady Cats on Friday night, as they tried to extend their playoff series with Aubrey to three games after losing 2-1 the night before. This time, the teams met in Allen to finish out the series and decide who would be moving on to round four of the playoffs. Despite a valiant effort from Tom Bean, the Lady Chaps comfortably ran out of this one with a win, outscoring their opponents 7-1 and taking the series 2-0.

This time it was Aubrey who took an early 1-0 lead. Kacee Henderson came in for just one of her three runs in the game off of a double from third baseman Kylie Roos. But, it didn’t take long for the Lady Cats to respond. After a scoreless first inning, they came out of the second tied 1-1 after sophomore Rebecca Harrell scored off of a hit by freshman Reagan Querido. That would turn out to be the only run for the Lady Cats. They found it difficult to hit off of Lady Chaps pitcher Kacey Carlock, who recorded 14 strikeouts on the night.

It was an un-commonly rough night on the mound for Lady Cat’s senior pitcher Megan Mitchell, as she could only get 5 strikeouts. The third inning seemed to be the one that sealed the game for Aubrey. They came away with 5 hits, three runs, and still had the bases loaded by the time the inning was retired. They grabbed two more in the fourth, another in the sixth, and that was all she wrote. The season ends for the Tom Bean Lady Cats, but not disappointingly.

“I think we went out and we tried to come back from last night’s game, but we didn’t get the breaks we wanted,” said Tom Bean’s senior pitcher Megan Mitchell about game two. “But, we came out; we played, and wanted to go on. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”

Mitchell certainly has nothing to feel sour about from the season, as she came away with 210 strikeouts in the season, making her overall high school career total strikeouts a cool 1100.

“It was really great, especially all of the fans and the support coming out and cheering me on all of the time,” said Mitchell about her four years on the mound for Tom Bean. “They’ll come up and tell me ‘Hey, we couldn’t do it without you’, but there’s all of these other players and we all came together as a team. It got hard at times, but overall we just remained calm and tied not to let the pressure get to us.”

This was the second time in two years for the Lady Cats to be eliminated by the Aubrey Lady Chaps.

“Tonight, we came out, we were ready, I think the intensity was there, I know the motivation was there,” said Coach Lance Cherry about his team’s effort. “I think the breaks didn’t go our way tonight. Obviously, early in the game, when we tried to bunt a little bit, we weren’t able to execute the plays. Also, when you switch in a series from one umpire to another, you have to adapt to those strike zones. Last night’s strike zone was better fit for our team; tonight, not so much. Probably, their ability to lay off the rise ball and our lack of ability to execute the bunt and run the short game was a big thing that contributed to the loss tonight.”

Another plus for the Lady Chaps was their depth on the mound. Instead of all-state pitcher Kylie Roos, Kacey Carlock pitched on the night and played just as well. Cherry did say that this was a factor in the game, as Aubrey was able to bring in a fresh pitcher that his team were not as accustomed to. However, there is no doubting the pride Coach Cherry takes in his group of girls, who have for the past two years of his tenure provided some great moments and outstanding play.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” said Cherry. “To close out the season the way we did with the injuries we had and the adversity we faced, I mean, I am speechless when I talk about these kids. I could coach the rest of my life and not have this group of five seniors that has the amount of talent. The fact that you have a group of kids who work hard every day and have talent isn’t seen very often. So when you see five kids who come to practice every day, don’t have excuses, and it doesn’t matter if they have something else because they’re going to cancel it and come to practice, as a coach you get kind of spoiled some times. There’s no replacing them, they won’t be replaced next year.”

For me personally, this was the best sports season so far. To be able to come out, hang out with and watch this group of girls play was a sportswriter's dream. It never ends; they never give up on a game, no matter what the score is. For years, this team has given their small, Texas town something to be proud of. So, it’s no wonder they get the amount of support they do. All of Tom Bean knows who they are, and these girls have inspired so many fans, both young and old, with their all-or-nothing style of play. Being a senior myself, I will sorely miss watching Tom Bean softball, and I will always remember them for what they were: truly dedicated athletes. I think I speak for the entire town of Tom Bean when I say, “Well done, ladies. You laid it all on the line, never gave in, and always played your hardest. We are so proud of you.”