JOURDANTON – The Boerne High softball team was looking for its first trip to the state tournament since the 2007 season but a stout Calallen team stood in their way last Friday in Jourdanton in the Region IV-4A championship game. This was the second time in three seasons that the Lady Hounds and Lady Wildcats clashed in the regional finals, and unfortunately for BHS, the result was the same as in 2021, after Calallen knocked Boerne from the playoffs.
The Lady Wildcats won last Friday’s game 8-1 to end Boerne’s year at 29-10 overall.
Afterwards, BHS coach Chester Pettibon tipped his hat to the Wildcats for playing a great game against his team.
“This was their night, you have to give them credit, they hit the ball well,” he said. “Today, they were better, we gave great effort; it just didn’t go our way.”
Calallen banged out 11 hits, including 2 home runs, a triple and 3 doubles, while Boerne had 3 hits total.
Braelyn Bailey homered in the second to give Calallen the 1-0 edge and then Alaunah Almaraz smashed a 2-run shot in the third as part of a 3-run inning to put the Wildcats ahead, 4-0.
Boerne scored its only run of the game in the fourth after Heidi Maytum reached on a walk. A double by Ava Renteria scored Maytum, who made it to base six straight times going back to the Alice series.
Calallen got Renteria in a run down for an out and then retired the next two batters to end the rally with a 4-1 lead.
After that, the Wildcats blew it open in the fifth inning and hit all three of its doubles in the frame to score 4 runs before Boerne could get out of the jam. Calallen had built an 8-1 lead and that’s where it stayed until the end.
Besides the Renteria double, Bre Krause singled in the sixth and Taylor Wilson singled in the first. Boerne took 7 walks in the game but did strike out 10 times against Calallen freshman pitcher Jordyn Thibodeaux.
Boerne pitcher Ava Rodriguez yielded 11 hits, walked 3 and struck out 1 on 112 pitches.
Pettibon said he never thought about replacing Rodriguez in the circle last Friday.
“We were going to go with her the whole time,” he said, “we said it going in.”
The Lady Hounds will graduate Isa Renteria, Cameron Cooper, Olivia Langer, Ava Nieto, Ava “Bevo” Rodriguez, Taryn Madlock and Heidi Maytum.
Pettibon had a message to his recent graduates.
“To the seniors we say, ‘this is not the end, it’s the beginning to the next part in life. You aren’t going to win everything in life, you’re going to win some days and some days you’re going to lose, so you have to go on and fight the good fight,’” he said. “Our girls worked hard to get to this point, I’m proud of how we battled in this game.”
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