Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning in the second game of Forsan softball’s regional quarterfinal matchup against Sundown, the Lady Buffs needed a score to push the game into extra innings.
Without a score, Forsan would break a 17-game winning streak and be forced into an elimination game.
The coaching staff, led by Jason Phillips, challenged the team to get at least one run out of the inning. The Lady Buffs responded with back-to-back doubles, bringing in their first run and pushing the game to the eighth knotted at 1-1.
Back on the mound in the eighth for Forsan was one of the youngest players on the team, Makayla Garza.
The freshman missed time earlier in the season due to some injuries to her throwing arm, but found her way back into the rotation a few weeks before the playoffs started. She started the game for the Lady Buffs, holding a dynamic Sundown team to one run and was nearing 100 pitches — a heavy workload for any pitcher inside the circle.
With one out in the eighth, Garza sparked the season's highlight for the Lady Buffs.
“(Garza) hit her spot and got us a ground ball and got us into a double play,” Phillips said. “I think that double play was one of the biggest moments of the season. … It was almost like we couldn’t have drawn it up any better.”
The next inning, Lybertee Rodriquez walked, then advanced on a wild pitch and Ary’anna Mealing brought her in for the final score.
Forsan (26-6-1) swept the series against Sundown (23-5-1), winning 7-1 and 2-1 to extend its winning streak to 18 games. The team's last loss came on March 8 in a tournament game against Samford — a moment Phillips said changed the team's demeanor.
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“They were tired of losing,” Phillips said. “They started putting in extra work, and the adversity helped us.”
Playoff success is not new for the Lady Buffs. They finished last season 28-11 as district champions, won three series and made a trip to the regional final — but were swept by Samford. This season, the more experienced Lady Buffs squad is poised to return to the regional final with the team's refocused defense and bullpen.
Maddie Roach is leading the pitching staff, maintaining an ERA of 2.82 in 104.1 innings while recording 86 strikeouts in that span. Next up is Bree Tub, who pitched 45 2/3 innings this season and leads the team in ERA at 2.76 and is second in strikeouts with 58. Rounding out the starters is Garza with 23 innings pitched, a 4.26 ERA and 20 strikeouts.
In the closeout game against Sundown, Garza yielded five hits, one run and tallied six strikeouts against 31 batters faced in a 100-pitch performance.
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“I think our pitching staff has done a really good job of locating their pitches and mixing speeds up, but our defense is what we’ve hung our hat on,” Phillips said. “Our defense has really stepped up, especially the last few weeks and made a lot of really good plays. I think our defense was the MVP of (the Sundown) series for sure.”
While the Lady Buffs hang their hat on defense, they also boast an impressive offense that brought in 369 runs on 324 hits this season, led by a trio of upperclassmen: K’leigh Williams, Rodriquez and Stockton, who are all hitting better than .400 this season.
“Number one, I think the girls do a really good job of getting the count in their favor, to get the pitcher to throw pitches they want,” Phillips said. “And again, it plays into the experience level. If you have inexperienced players, that pitch count is a really big deal, but our girls really know how to work the count pretty good.”
Forsan will lean on its experience and balanced approach this week in its regional semifinal matchup against Haskell this weekend, a team Phillips admitted he does not know as much about.
“What we do know (about Haskell) is that they’re a good solid ballclub and well-rounded — probably the most well-rounded team we’ve faced so far this season,” Phillips said. “It sounds like they can swing the ball well one through nine and can play really good defense, so it will be a good matchup for us.”
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