The junior ices her rival in the final inning to seal game 1 of regional quarterfinal series
By Michael Adams
madams@austinsportsjournal.com
HUTTO – Thorndale’s softball team has a secret.
However, the secret is getting harder to keep as the Bulldogs (19-10) get deeper into the postseason.
Thorndale has been able to keep their ace hurler and slugger, junior Karis Ginn, hidden in the small town – located 50 miles northeast of downtown Austin – and away from a lot of attention.
It’s not because her statistics aren’t’ eye-catching, because they are.
Ginn is manhandling opponents both in the circle as the Bulldogs’ pitching ace and at the plate as the No. 3 batter in the lineup. In fact, she’s hit a total three home runs in Thorndale’s three playoff games prior to Wednesday’s opener of a regional quarterfinal best-of-three series with rival Thrall.
“That’s usually the case when you get down in these smaller classifications,” said Thorndale head coach Lance Betak. “Your pitcher is often also one of your better hitters.”
Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, the District 27-2A champions have yet to face a real challenge.
The Bulldogs swept their first-round best-of-three series against Mason by 10-run rules in both games. In last weekend’s one-game playoff with Burton, Thorndale won again by the mercy rule.
But the road to McCombs Field in Austin for the UIL state softball tournament is about to get a lot bumpier for the Bulldogs, who beat their rival 5-4 Wednesday at Hutto Memorial Field at Hutto High School.
A familiar adversary
Thrall and Thorndale are no strangers to each other. The towns are only six miles apart, and the two teams have met twice in the regular season. The Bulldogs won both regular season district games by scores of 5-2 and 5-4.
Wednesday’s meeting was no different, as both Ginn and Betak expect battles in every game of the series.
Thrall (26-10) came out swinging and jumped to a two-run lead after 2 1/2 innings. Senior Dezi Lopez scored on a sacrifice bunt by Miley Pokorny in the second inning, while Kenzie Engelke scored another run on a double by Ashlyn Jarosek.
Jarosek then blasted a two-run home run over the center field wall in the fifth inning, scoring Engelke again.
Despite an uncharacteristic outing in the circle and at the plate by Ginn, Thorndale pulled out the win by taking advantage of timely errors by Thrall and a stellar defensive performance.
“We didn’t start off very strong,” Ginn said. “I didn’t have a good game at the plate, but my teammates backed me up and our defense stayed strong.”
Kassidy Eubanks’ double in the bottom of the third inning plated both Allison Owen and Bernice Gonzalez, tying the game at two.
The Bulldogs scored three unearned runs from back-to-back errors by the Tigerettes defense in the fourth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Alyanna Stevenson led off the inning with a single to left field. On the next at bat, an error on the throw to first base put Maylayya Dodson on base and allowed Stevenson to score.
Another error on a routine ground ball advanced Raven Sandoval to second base and scored Dodson. Sandoval scored two at bats later. on a squeeze play to round out the inning’s scoring.
Holding onto a one-run lead in the top of the seventh inning, Ginn retired Thrall’s top three hitters in the lineup – including Jarosek – in order to secure the win.
“They had the top three batters going into the top of the seventh, and we had Karis in the circle. You can’t ask for much more than that,” Betak said. “Karis came through in the clutch. Sometimes there in the middle innings, she loses focus, but when its time to coume through, there’s a lot more times she comes through than not.”
A tough road ahead
Ginn was a freshman the last time Thorndale made a deep run in the playoffs, coming within one round of reaching the 2022 state tournament.
Last year, Ginn and the Bulldogs were eliminated by Latexo in the second round, losing in the third game of a best-of-three series.
The sting from last year’s second-round loss is still on the mind of Ginn, who said she thinks Thorndale has a real shot at getting to the state tournament this year, even in a very tough Region IV.
“If we keep playing the way we’ve been playing lately, I think we can (get to the state tournament),” she said. “We’re communicating better and we blend together well. There’s not a big secret, we just come together as a team.”
The road to the state tournament is about to get a lot tougher for Throdnale and Ginn.
The Bulldogs still have to win one of the remaining two games in their regional quarterfinal series against a very good Thrall team to advance to the next round.
Should they do that, Thorndale will likely face defending Class 2A state champion Weimar in next week’s regional semifinals. It would be a rematch of the 2022 regional finals.
After that, Shiner or Latexo will likely be waiting in the regional finals as the last hurdle for the Bulldogs state tournament aspirations.
But first, Thorndale still has to beat their rival one more time. If Wednesday was any indication of how the series is going to go, that might be easier said than done.
Game 2 of their series is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Taylor High School.