Sundown softball sees how thin margin is as playoff push continues
Sundown was reminded how tight competition is this deep in the playoffs. The Roughettes showed championship mettle to march forward.
IRA — The Sundown softball team is used to getting every team's best shot. Such is the privilege of wearing last year's crown deep in the playoffs. The Roughettes received a reminder Saturday of the shrinking margin for error as the postseason continues.
Thanks to some championship mettle, Sundown made sure Haskell fell on the short end of those defining plays. An out away from a deciding Game 3, Nayleen Morin drove a first pitch to deep right field to score two runs — including Destiny Garza from first — in the Roughettes' 3-2 win at the Ira ISD Sports Complex. The dramatic finish sealed a Region I-2A Division II semifinal sweep for Sundown, which took the opener 7-4 on Friday.
It was Morin's first hit of the series. "I saw a girl who was struggling all day, kind of a little bit yesterday too, just trust in her abilities," Roughettes coach Meagan Gonzales said. "Trust in her teammates, understand the situation and go up there fearless.
We talk about it all the time, if you can go through adversity fearless, you give yourself a shot, and that's exactly what they did today. " Earlier in the afternoon, it looked as if one swing would make all the difference for the Maidens. Haskell's Rebekah Cunningham launched a two-run homer to center field in the fifth to give her team a 2-1 edge.