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. That score held until Morin’s late heroics.
“We absolutely knew what we were getting into with Haskell,” Gonzales said. “Playing them last year and just hearing about all the good things they’ve done this year — that’s a great ball team on the other side of the field.”
Breigh Gregory was solid in the circle awaiting Sundown’s breakthrough. She allowed no earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts, no walks and on hit batter. It was the third week in a row Gregory picked up the Game 2 win after Destiny Garza won the opener.
Gregory held the Maidens scoreless after a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the first. She also stranded a pair of runners in the following frame before finding a groove.
“Breigh was getting in some trouble early and then finding ways out of it,” Gonzales said. “… That’s another young lady that gets up there and just goes to battle for her teammates and never stops.”
The Roughettes (27-3) advance to face Big Lake Reagan County in the regional final. Gonzales said anything is possible for the team as long as it stays focused.
“We’re getting close to where we want to go,” Gonzales said. “We have goals that we want to see. It’s so easy, with a big senior class, to get derailed by distractions and graduations coming up. So I think the mindset is what is different. If you can keep your mindset, we’ll be OK.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Sundown edges Haskell softball in 2A D-II regional semifinals sweep
