Angelina College’s softball team and its fans experienced the brutal gamut of emotions in Monday’s third round of the Region XIV Conference Tournament.
After staying alive with a thrilling early win over Galveston – on a Kaylee Parker walk-off home run – the Lady Roadrunners saw their season come to an end with a 5-4 loss to Tyler College in the day’s final game.
AC trailed the Lady Apaches 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but the team rallied to tie the game behind Morgan Conner’s bases-loaded walk and a two-run Tyler error. Jordan Kisselburg drove in the first AC run with an RBI double in the second inning.
The sixth-inning excitement was short-lived: Tyler bounced back to score the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh. Shelby Hotchkiss led off with a walk, moved around to third on another walk and a Rebecca Snow single and scored on Haillie Weber’s sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the inning, AC’s Taylor Davis and Parker drove balls deep to the outfield fence – but those shots fell just short, and Tyler advanced to tomorrow’s round.
In the day’s early game, the Lady Roadrunners and Galveston College battled in another elimination game. AC took a 5-1 lead in the third behind a pair of two-run singles from Parker and Shay Vegas, only to see the Whitecaps tie the game with two runs in the fourth – on an Angel Villanueva two-run homer – and two in the fifth. With the score knotted at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Parker drove the first pitch she saw far over the left-field fence for the walk-off win and the team’s 100th homer of the season.
The Lady Roadrunners end their season having established several records, including wins in a season with 45 and home runs in a season with 100. Kali Holcomb set the individual single-season home run record with 18, and Taylor Davis finishes her two years as a Lady Roadrunner having set the all-time career home run mark with 29.
In the day’s other action, San Jacinto College punched its ticket to the NJCAA World Series with a 1-0 win over Blinn College. Blinn and Tyler College will play at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, and the winner will face San Jacinto at 12:30. An if-necessary game will take place at 3 p.m. if San Jacinto loses the 12:30 game.
AC’s loss marked the final game for sophomores Kylie Murdock, Halie Pritchett, Lauren Garza, Jordan Kisselburg, Miranda Wiggins, Whitney Howerton, Lynsey Mitchell, Kaylee Parker, Kali Holcomb, Taylor Davis, Taylor LaGrange and Shay Vegas.
