Aledo softball ready to defend state titleBy Brian Gosset
With fewer wins than the state-champion football team, the Aledo softball team is preparing to defend its own UIL state title.
The Bearcats (14-0) host Fort Worth Trimble Tech at 7 p.m. Friday in a one-game Class 5A bi-district playoff. Aledo’s football team went 15-1 last season.
It’s been a strange season for the softball team because weather has canceled numerous games. For Aledo, the Bearcats didn’t play a single nondistrict game and officially started their season with District 8-5A play.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we’ve had a season at all,” said Aledo coach Jeff Lemons, whose team went 33-4 last year to win the 4A (now 5A) championship. “We’ve had to get creative with keeping the focus, but the girls have done a great job of not letting things out of their control affect them.”
In 14 games, however, Aledo has been efficient, scoring 162 runs (11.6 runs a game) and allowing only 16.
“The main problem was we weren’t able to get playing time for everyone,” Lemons said. “Since we only played a district schedule, the starters got the majority of the at-bats and innings pitched.”
Six players who were named to last year’s Class 4A UIL All-Tournament team lead this year’s lineup, including shortstop Allie Arneson (.660 average, 18 extra-base hits, 19 RBI), second baseman Rhylie Makawe (.472, three home runs, 19 RBI), pitcher Lauren Craine (13-0, 77 strikeouts, 0.85 ERA), outfielder Kadyn Kirkpatrick (.556, six triples, nine RBI) and third baseman Riley Sartain (.375, three home runs, 22 RBI).
“It was definitely a little scary going into that first district game because it was our first real game, but I think the extra rest will work to our advantage through the playoffs,” Sartain said.
Aledo will try to do what it couldn’t do when it won the state title in 2008 and that’s repeat.
Now the Bearcats are set to face the Bulldogs (6-8), who fought hard to finish as the fourth seed in District 7-5A and clinch their first playoff berth since 2009.
“We haven’t been able to watch Trimble Tech, but I expect them to be very scrappy and well-coached,” Lemons said.
Sartain said: “We’re hungry for that state title this year and we don’t want the season to end until after that championship game.”
Here’s a few other interesting playoff openers:
• Lewisville (18-4) vs. Keller Timber Creek (16-5): Lewisville is No. 8 the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 6A state poll, while the Falcons are No. 27. Lewisville beat Hebron twice in district play, and Timber Creek beat Hebron in a tournament.
• Lake Dallas (21-3) vs. Chisholm Trail (19-8): Lake Dallas, No. 23 in the TGCA 5A state poll, breezed to second place in District 6-5A, while the Rangers earned the third seed out of 5-5A. Top to bottom, Chisholm Trail competed in a stronger district.
• Birdville (20-4) vs. Saginaw (11-9): Birdville, No. 9 in the TGCA 5A state poll, won its fourth district title in a row and seek to improve on last year’s first-round exit to White Settlement Brewer. Saginaw lost to Denton Guyer in the first round last year.
• White Settlement Brewer (15-6) vs. Grapevine (13-11): Grapevine is back in the playoffs and face the Bears, who lost to Azle in the regional quarterfinal last season.
• Weatherford (14-6) vs. Midland (20-7): Midland had the highest-scoring offense in District 3-6A, racking up 83 runs in 10 games. The Kangaroos have scored 153 runs in the past 12 games, winning 10.
• Fort Worth South Hills (15-2) vs Burleson (9-11): South Hills and Burleson both were victims of sweep in last year’s first round. Burleson has a long softball history, but the District 7-5A champion Scorpions are probably the best shot for a Fort Worth ISD team to advance to the second round.
www.dfw.com/2015/04/30/991182/aledo-softball-ready-to-defend.html