Danny Frank's Blog

Published April 20, 2007

Trish Leidy cannot believe it’s come to this. Santa Fe must beat Angleton in the District 23-4A finale tonight, or the Lady Indians’ season is over.

Leidy, Santa Fe’s softball coach, said her team shouldn’t have let itself get in this position.

“We should have never lost to Dickinson,” Leidy said. “We should have never lost to Friendswood. “We just shouldn’t be where we are (in the standings). But we are because of the way we’ve played.”

Santa Fe plays at Angleton at 7 p.m. today, and Friendswood plays at Texas City at 7 p.m. today.

Both games have a bearing on the playoffs.

Santa Fe (14-14 overall, 7-4 district) trails Angleton (23-7, 8-3), which is tied with Friendswood (12-16, 8-3) for second place.

Texas City (20-9, 10-1) has already clinched the district title. But the last two playoff spots are still open, and it could come down to a two- or three-team playoff for those two spots.

But Santa Fe must win to make that happen, and the Lady Indians are playing the district’s hottest team. Angleton is unbeaten in the second half of district, and the Lady Cats have beaten Friendswood (3-0) and Texas City (4-0) in its last two games.

Here are the scenarios:

• If Santa Fe and Texas City win: Santa Fe, Friendswood and Angleton finish in a three-way tie for third. The three teams would have a district playoff (either Saturday or Monday) to determine the two playoff berths.

• If Santa Fe and Friendswood win: Friendswood clinches the No. 2 seed, and Santa Fe gets the third and final spot because it would give the Lady Indians a sweep of the district series against Angleton.

• If Angleton and Friendswood win: the two teams would have a playoff (either Saturday or Monday) to determine the No. 2 spot.

• If Angleton and Texas City win: Angleton is the No. 2 seed, and Friendswood is the No. 3 seed.

Friendswood coach Kevin Parr believes his team has a chance against the two-time district champion Lady Stings. Texas City scored three runs — two on a wild pitch and another on an error — to beat Friendswood, 3-2, in nine innings, in the first meeting in Friendswood.

The Lady Stings scored the game-winning run on a two-out wild pitch in the ninth inning.

“My girls have confidence,” Parr said. “They know they let one get away against Texas City. But that’s how Texas City plays. They put pressure on you and make you make mistakes.

“I think my girls will rise to the challenge and play with them. We don’t want to go to the playoffs with a two-game losing streak.”

The two teams have developed an intensive rivalry. Last year, the Lady Mustangs swept Texas City, 2-0, in a best-of-three playoff series in the third round. Friendswood rallied in its last at-bat in both games.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Texas City coach Amber Maier said. “It’s a friendly rivalry, and there’s a lot of unfinished business on both parts.”

Texas City is coming off its first district loss in two seasons. Angleton beat the Lady Stings, 4-0, on Saturday.

“It’s quite an accomplishment to go undefeated like we did last year,” Maier said. “We were real excited that we were on that path again. But like I said at the beginning of the season: We have tough teams in this district, and, Angleton is a tough team. They outplayed us, and they got us.

“I’m not upset that we lost to a good team at all. Like I told the girls: ‘I’d rather lose to a good team now than a good team in the playoffs.’”

Creek Can Clinch Tonight

Clear Creek goes into tonight’s District 24-5A finale against Ball High (10-16, 1-10) with a good chance of getting into the playoffs.

The Wildcats (12-13, 4-7) are tied with Clear Brook (18-10, 4-7) for the fourth and final playoff spot.

However, Brook must win at Pearland (26-4, 9-2) and get Ball High to pull off the upset to make the playoffs.

Creek has the tie-breaker over Brook, since the Wildcats swept the season series.

Creek gets into the playoffs with a victory over Ball High or a Brook loss.

Pearland and Brazoswood are both a half-game back of Alvin (10-2) for the district title. All three have clinched playoff berths.

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