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The Ladycat varsity softball team punched their ticket to the state semifinals after holding on for a hotly contested victory against fellow softball juggernauts and district rivals, the Shiner Lady Comanches. In a 3-game series that was as hotly contested and competitive as their regular season offerings, it was the Ladycats who took the advantage after finding just enough scoring to outplay their longtime rivals. The storylines were plentiful heading into this Regional Finals series. Both teams spent a majority of the season in the TGCA’s top 25 poll as Weimar entered the series as the third-best team and Shiner entered as the fourth-best team in the rankings. The two teams also split their matchups during the regular season as they finished first and second in the district standings.
Game 1, L, 4-3
The lowest total combined score of the series came in a tight first game that set the standard for how competitive the rest of the games would be. The Lady Comanches made the first statement of the regional finals with three runs in the first inning after holding Weimar scoreless at the top of the inning. The Ladycats responded with three runs in the third to tie things up at three runs apiece. After a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, Shiner scored another run at the bottom of the fifth to take the lead. The Lady Comanches went on to hold Weimar scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings to keep their claim on the game one victory.
The Ladycats picked up some big swings on offense despite being outhit 7-4 in the game. Every hit for Weimar was for multiple bases as Taylor Smith provided two doubles and Reagan Wick and Izzy Reeves picked up a double each for the offense. Wick batted in two runners to lead the team while Smith batted in the other run for Weimar.
Game 2, W, 13-7
The offense exploded for both teams in the second game as the Ladycats picked up their sixth game scoring double-digit runs this postseason. Weimar once again allowed Shiner to get out to a hot start as the Lady Comanches scored four runs in the second inning to put pressure on the Ladycats. Shiner scored three more runs in the top of the fourth to take an imposing 7-0 lead over Weimar. However, the Ladycats exploded at the bottom of the inning as a Shiner error to get the first runner of the inning on base led to a series of big plays that tightened the game. Paige Pavlu’s two-run homer during the inning helped contribute to a five-run inning that gave the Ladycats new life.
After a scoreless fifth inning from both teams, Weimar made sure that they would be returning shortly after the game’s conclusion to play game three after a huge, eightrun inning in the sixth to take the lead as they held Shiner scoreless in every inning besides the second and the fourth. The Lady Comanches could not respond in the top of the seventh inning and conceded the second game of the series.
Game 3, W, 5-3
The scoring cooled off for both teams as their hitting dropped from a 12-10 Shiner advantage in game two to just a 7-6 advantage for Shiner in the clinching game. The Ladycats never outhit Shiner in any game this postseason. However, Weimar got some huge hits to claim the victory as they had one of their most intense games of the season.
The Ladycats finally got the first move against Shiner this season as they scored two runs in the first inning to open the scoring for the first time this series. Shiner responded with two runs in the second to tie the game. What ensued was five straight innings of scoreless softball as the defenses locked in on the task. After seven innings proved too short to decide a winner, the game moved on to extra innings where the Lady Comanches scored a single run to take the lead at the top of the eighth. With one atbat remaining to tie the game or win it in walkoff fashion, several of the Ladycats’ top batters got a final chance to make an impact. After Taylor Smith reached on a single and Paige Pavlu reached on a walk, Hannah Fisbeck came to the plate and smashed a home run over centerfield to give Weimar a dramatic win and move on to the state semifinals after one of the best matchups across all softball this season.
Reagan Wick led this game in hitting with two on the stat sheet. Fisbeck led the team in RBIs as her three-run homer in extra innings gifted Weimar the victory.
