The softball team will get one final clash against its main rival before the school year ends. The regional finals against Marcus will be held at Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club to determine the team that will advance to the state final four in Austin.
Game one will be tonight at 8 p.m. Game two is Friday at 7:30 p.m. and if game three is needed, it will be Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
This will be the third time the Marauders [31-7] and Farmers [27-12] will face off this season. The Marauders came away with two victories over the Farmers in the regular season, defeating LHS by two runs or less in both the district games.
“I feel like we beat ourselves [in the earlier games],” Farmer head coach Lori Alexander said. “We are playing with a lot more confidence than what we played with last time.”
Marcus [12th in state according to Maxpreps.com] and Lewisville [9th in state] were in the last two seeds of the district.
Marauders senior pitcher Hannah Null has a 0.76 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 92 innings pitched. Senior shortstop Danielle Warne and junior outfielder Madison Greenwall both hit over .400 for the season, according to statistics on the Dallas Morning News website.
“The big focus is laying off [Nulls’] junk. We have just been turning our pitching machine up to the velocity she throws,” Alexander said. “Their weakness is their defense. I feel like if we put the bat on the ball, then we can overcome their strength and play to their weakness.”
For the Farmers, junior Kacie Saucedo, sophomore Gaby Vasquez, freshman Maribeth Gorsuch and senior Becca Scott are all hitting above .400.
The Marauders have lost two games in the playoffs, while the Farmers have only lost one. Marauders have given up 14 runs and scored 48 in the 11 playoff games. The Farmers have given up 20 runs and scored 69 in nine playoff games. Alexander credited teamwork for the Farmers’ history-making playoff run.
“For whatever reason this second half of the year they have really pulled together and have supported each other,” Alexander said.
The game will be webcast on Livestream.com. To watch, click here and search for “MarcusSoftball2013.” Registration is free and the broadcast will begin 15 minutes prior to the first pitch.
