Patriots finish fifth in World Series

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The Patriots softball team’s “dream” season fell short in New Jersey with two losses and one win at the NCAA Div. III Softball World Series in May.
Although it was a historic trip — their first World Series appearance — the team would have loved to have won it all.

“It really went smooth and we’ve had a great experience. You dream about going to the National Championship, and this has lived up to that. Our whole experience has been great,” coach Mike Reed said. “To have this much success and play in the World Series this early in the history of the program is unbelievable. We are thankful for all the support we had up here because these fans mean so much to the team.”

After the World Series —  won by Messiah College (Penn.) — sophomore Whitney Wyly and senior Megan “Roo” Richardson each brought home the program’s first All-American honors.

Wyly made the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s first team while Richardson made the second team.

The Patriots ended the season with a record of 39-10 and ended the collegiate careers of five seniors: Richardson, Courtney Carrizales, Cori Green, Kate Bell, and Lauren Scruggs.

ROAD TO NEW JERSEY

IRVING — The road to the World Series began April 30 when the Patriots opened up the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament in Irving with a 9-0 win over Howard Payne University.

The next day, the Patriots squeaked by East Texas Baptist University, 1-0, before knocking off rival Louisiana College 2-0 later than night.

The win put the Patriots in the final round of play needing only one more win to claim the conference championship title.

On May 2, the Patriots faced Louisiana again, but lost 6-0 , forcing a winner-takes-  all second game.

The game began under the threat of thunderstorms and made it until the second inning before lighting twice forced a suspension. Poor field conditions prevented the teams from completing the game rescheduled for the next day.

Officials determined the championship via a tiebreaker — advantage Patriots.

The Patriots claimed the ASC Championship because of a 4-2 overall season record against the Lady Wildcats.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL

MARSHALL — Then came the Regionals — a step the Patriots never made it through last season.

The Patriots faced a tough agenda at the West Regional Tournament held May 7-10 at East Texas Baptist Church in Marshall.

The Patriots went 4-0 in the tournament, but every game came down to one run while the final three games took extra innings to decide.

The team opened the tournament with a 2-1 win against the University of the Redlands.

Richardson led off the game with a double to left-center field and scored on a double by Wyly that barely missed being a home run.

The Redlands tied the game in the bottom of the second inning on a double by Roxy Lambert.

In the fifth inning, the Patriots loaded the bases with one out and Redlands pitcher  Olivia Ellis walked Ashley Klores to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.
Patriots pitcher Stacy Shepherd took care of business in the remaining innings to   advance the Patriots into the winner’s bracket.

The Patriots then faced the No. 1 ranked Linfield. That game took 10 innings but thanks to a walk-off solo home run from Richardson, the Patriots won 3-2.

UT got on the scoreboard with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Linfield didn’t respond until the top of the sixth when Shepherd gave up the game-tying, two-run home run.

Kelsey Ainsworth took over with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and eventually went on to throw 4 1/3 innings of two-hit shutout ball, which proved to be crucial when Richardson finally ended the game in the bottom of the 10th.

The following day, the Patriots faced ETBU and once again, it came down to   pitching.

It took eight innings, but the Patriots won 1-0 for the second straight week over the Lady Tigers.

The only score of the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning when  Klores came to the plate and knocked a single to right-center field to score Richardson.

The Patriots faced Linfield again, needing only one win to advance to the World Series.

Linfield grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Alex Hartmann doubled to left-center.

The Patriots responded in the top of the second inning when Bell hit a two-run home run to left field.

Neither pitcher gave up another run until the eighth inning when the Patriots got two runners on base with Wyly — who was only 1-for-13 — at bat.

Wyly sent the first pitch right down the middle over the fence for the go-ahead three-run home run  and a 5-2 lead.

Linfield cut the deficit in the bottom of the eighth with a Natalie Taylor two-run home run.

With two outs, Reed took Shepherd — who had thrown 108 pitches — off the mound and brought in Ainsworth to get the last out.

NCAA WORLD SERIES

MONTCLAIR, N.J. — In only its fifth year of existence, the Patriots made it to the biggest stage of them all, the NCAA Div. III World Series on May 15-17.

More than 1,505 miles from Tyler, the Patriots played in arguably one of the   biggest tournaments of their careers.

The stage was set at Montclair State University located just 15 miles west of New York City.

The Patriots’ first game was against Gustavas Adophus College (Minn.), a team also making its first appearance at the World Series.

The Patriots were rolling with a 1-0 lead and Shepherd was shutting down the opponents’ lineup. That is, until the sixth inning.

Shepherd came out looking for another quick inning but she immediately gave up a leadoff double and utility player Amanda Busby made a fielding error that allowed another opponent on base.

Shepherd then hit her next batter before giving up a single to left field that scored two runners after Richardson overran the ball for an error.

Gustavus managed to add another run on a sacrifice fly and then Kirsten Prunty capped off the inning with a two-run home run to go ahead 5-1.

The loss put the Patriots in the loser’s bracket of the tournament. but they began digging themselves out of that hole the next day against Ohio Northern University.

Thanks to three solo home runs and a bizarre game-ending play, the Patriots defeated the Polar Bears, 4-2.

The Patriots scored on home runs from Richardson (from the third pitch of the game) and Bell, in the second inning, and Wyly in the sixth. Busby then knocked in Stacy Dominque to extend the Patriots lead to 4-1.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ohio Northern loaded  the bases with two outs and the tying run on second base.

Polar Bears’ Danielle Goubeaux hit what appeared to be a sharp single to the outfield to tie the game. However, the ball hit teammate Tina Mangola as she was running to second base. She was called for interference, ending the game.

Tufts University (Mass.) ended the Patriots’ season the next day in a 4-0 win  supported by a dominating pitching performance and two key home runs.

The Jumbos got on the board with a two-run home run over the center field fence off Shepherd in the second inning. They added more runs in their half of the fourth with a sharp line-drive that barely cleared the fence inside the right field foul pole.

Reed said he is proud of the team’s accomplishments. The team received a warm welcome home in Texas.

On May 28, the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas Legislature passed HR 2775 recognizing the Patriots’ accomplishments.

The resolution was authored by Representatives Leo Berman, Tommy Merritt, Byron Cook, Bryan Hughes and Chuck Hopson.