Archives > Sports Update
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Front Runners: Lady Panthers showed they could handle the pressure this season
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
There were plenty of similarities between the 2011 and 2012 Plano East softball teams.
The rosters were largely the same and both teams got out to fast starts with state and national rankings accompanying the gaudy records.
The difference, however, came down the stretch. Where the 2011 Lady Panthers crumbled under expectations and missed the playoffs, this year's squad went on a closing run in which it won 15-of-16 games to qualify for the Class 5A State Tournament for the second time in four years and third time in program history.
"We were like a family this season," said Chandler Cink, senior center fielder. "We spent so much time together and made so many sacrifices together, so we all wanted to win for each other."
East did plenty of that.
The Lady Panthers won their first 15 games, sweeping through fields in Katy and Allen on their way to tournament titles. East entered district at 16-1 with the lone defeat coming via a 3-1 loss to Round Rock Stony Point in the McKinney ISD Tournament.
The good times continued in district with East going 12-2 to tie for the 8-5A title alongside Plano Senior, which the Lady Panthers defeated three times in 2012.
This success came despite an ACL injury to Darby Grizzard (one of the team's five seniors along with Cink, pitcher Holly Kern, shortstop Rachel Scott and outfielder Brittney Sheehan). The absence of Grizzard gave opportunities to some of East's younger players, such as sophomore left fielder Haley Wisdom and sophomore second baseman Destiny Garza.
The mesh of old and young allowed East, now 28-3, to win in a variety of ways.
Whether it was the pitching of Kern, the defense of junior right fielder Ashleigh Hinshaw, Scott and Wisdom or the brute force from the middle of the lineup that consisted of Kern and juniors Jacque Anthony, K.K. Stevens and Sarah Morales, East found a way to win.
The Lady Panthers added seven consecutive victories to their ledger in the playoffs, but not without some close calls and a bit of controversy.
The lone playoff problems East encountered came against district foes as the Lady Panthers dispatched of Southlake Carroll (bi-district round), Haltom (area) and Lubbock Coronado (regional semifinals) by a combined score of 40-7.
To get to Coronado, East first had to overcome Flower Mound in Round 3.
The Lady Jags handed the Lady Panthers both their district losses and appeared as though they would do the same in the playoffs, holding a 2-0 lead before rain forced the game to be completed the next day. At the time, East head coach Karen Kalhoefer said the rain delay, "Felt like a sign from above. Like we were getting a break to regroup and come out better the next day."
The Lady Panthers did so by scoring three unanswered runs and making a game-saving play at the plate that spawned complaints from Flower Mound fans and a report on the news.
East got another clutch out at the plate in the Region I Finals against Hebron.
The Lady Panthers led the bulk of the way off homers from Kern and Scott, but the Hawks crept back into the game in the sixth, moving to within 5-4 before a perfect connection between Wisdom and Stevens prevented the tying run from scoring and made half the standing-room-only crowd fume while the other half erupted.
"It's plays like that," Kern said after the game, "that definitely make me feel confident in this team."
Defense was at the forefront again in the seventh when Garza ended the game with a sliding catch that pushed East on to state.
That magic didn't continue at Red & Charline McCombs Field last Friday though as East's quest for the first softball state title in Plano ISD history came to a halt courtesy of a 6-3 loss to Klein Collins in the Class 5A State Semifinals.
"Obviously this is not the result we wanted," Kern said. "But I'm glad I got to experience this again and it should be good experience for the younger players."
East has plenty of those as starters Stevens, Anthony, Morales, Hinshaw, Garza and Wisdom will all be back. Also set to return are sophomore Nickie Champion and freshman Ashley Interrante, who picked up varsity experience this season.
"We should still have a pretty scrappy team next year," Scott said.
Scott, Kern, Cink, Grizzard and Sheehan will not be part of the team though as they are graduating. Grizzard (Barton Community College), Scott and Kern (Texas) will continue their careers in college. But Cink, who was a starter as a freshman alongside Scott and Kern when the 2009 East team advanced to state, will not.
"Nope," she said, "this is it for me."
That being said, Cink was effusive with her praise for the Lady Panthers' program, as were her fellow four-year starters.
"I am so lucky that I ended up at East," Kern said. "There is no place I'd rather have been."
Kern's future collegiate teammate echoed those sentiments.
"I've made lifelong friends during my time here at East," Scott said. "I couldn't ask for better friends and I couldn't ask to be part of a better team."
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sports Update «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
