By Zack Cunningham/sportsreporter@trcle.com
JOSHUA — The Joshua Lady Owl softball team is sitting atop the Class 4A softball world right now and the view from the top is pretty good, according to the players and coaches.
The Lady Owls are sitting on a 26-3-1 overall record and were 12-0 in District 8-4A heading into Monday night’s home game against Stephenville.
Several of Joshua’s wins this year have come by run rule.
During a six-game stretch against Arlington Seguin, Stephenville, Mansfield Timberview, Everman, Granbury and Seguin again, the Lady Owls outscored their opponents by a margin of 67-0.
Joshua also played up in its nondistrict schedule by taking on several ranked Class 5A and 4A teams in the Weatherford, Saginaw and Brewer Tournaments.
The Lady Owls have three wins over No. 20 Weatherford to go along with a 3-1 win over No. 16 Odessa.
Two of their three losses came to No. 9 Rowlett (5-2) and No. 7 Keller (5-1).
Joshua has also been tested by Crowley in 8-4A competition. The Lady Eagles’ only two district losses have come against the Lady Owls.
In the first matchup against Crowley, Joshua prevailed 3-2. The Lady Owls won the second matchup on April 9, 2-0.
Whether the wins come by blowout, or just a few runs, Lady Owl head coach Traci Brooks said the team needs to keep its composure despite the No. 1 ranking to be successful in the state tournament.
“It’s the first time that I’ve ever had that,” Brooks said of the ranking. “A ranking is nothing if you don’t make it to the tournament and win the whole thing. We talked about that a little bit as a team [Tuesday] and talked about how people don’t care if we’re No. 1 or not, it just makes them want to beat us more. That’s added pressure on us to take care of business, and I think it may take a little getting used to.”
On Tuesday, the Lady Owls faced a 4-2 deficit against third-place Mansfield Legacy before rallying to score six runs to take the lead for good in a 10-7 victory.
Joshua had several miscues in the game, but was still able to rally for the win in its first game as the top 4A team in Texas.
“We have the talent to play well and win,” Brooks said. “We had six errors [against Legacy], but 13 hits. We can’t make silly mistakes.”
According to Brooks, the catalyst that makes Joshua go is how well-rounded the Lady Owls are from top to bottom.
“The biggest strength has been, when one person isn’t having a great game, another person picks it up. We’ve really played well as a team and there hasn’t been a weak link out here. We’ve played well together and stepped up and won the games we needed won by either making a diving catch to end it or stealing a base. Whatever we needed to have done, they did it.”
Brooks said the tough preseason schedule was meant to set the bar high following last year’s 1-0 loss against Aledo in the regional finals.
“It puts added pressure on you when you’re playing a team that’s tough,” Brooks said. “We had a good preseason with the tournaments we went to. They had some good teams with which we were able to size up our abilities against them and we did really well in those tournaments. That [Saginaw] tournament was only teams with prior playoff experience, so we got in for the sole reason to get that experience and play those kind of teams and we did really well in it. I believe we just lost one game in that tourney and that was to Keller.”
For senior Jordan Palmer, who will be taking her game to the Division I level at Texas Tech next year, the added pressure is something she relishes.
“Obviously it’s an honor,” Palmer said of the top-billing. “But there’s pressure because you have a big target on your back. I think we just kind of looked at it in a ‘You can always lose’ sense. We just try to go in there and take that game how it is. We pretend each game is like Aledo. You can lose it.”
If she had her way, Palmer said she would rather play nail-biters over blowouts.
“It’s hard, those games are hard to come out of and stay on top,” Palmer said. “I’d much rather play a close game, so I guess by staying fresh you’ve got to have that right mindset and stay fresh in practice, also. It’s really cool to be No. 1, but we try to blow it off and look at it as we’re not really No. 1 until we win state.”
Senior Caitlin Force said she and her fellow seniors would like to leave a mark on the program.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Force said. “We definitely have a target on our back now. We definitely understand that every time someone plays Joshua, they always play their best game. Everyone comes out and tries to play their best.
“We pretty much go out and try to have a fun time and play the best we can. Every time we’re in the dugout, we always try to support each other. I think since most of us are seniors, we want to leave with a big bang and be remembered.”
Force said getting early advantage is key in every game Joshua plays.
“We’ve definitely learned to jump on them early,” Force said. “We don’t let the opportunities of the beginning of the game slip by, or they’ll come back to bite us at the end.”
Senior Kayci Wilson said the rise in the polls all year has been something to behold.
“Personally for me, it’s really exciting because we’re finally in first,” Wilson said. “At the beginning of the year, we were down, not high at all. It makes me want to work harder.”
Wilson said the approach hasn’t changed fundamentally since the new ranking came out earlier this week, but said everybody on the team knows how high the stakes are both now and in the postseason.
“We didn’t change everything because we’re first,” Wilson said. “As for me, and I’m pretty sure for the team, we want to work harder to stay in first and go further [in the playoffs] than we did last year.”
Senior Candice Gauntt said that while the ranking can represent added pressure, it means a lot to be ranked in the top spot anyway.
“In a way, it’s a lot of pressure,” Gauntt said. “If you lose, then everyone is like, “Why are they No. 1?’ In another way, it’s an honor because we’ve all worked so hard just to get to this point and it paid off. It’s an honor and personally, I think it feels really great to be No. 1.”
In switching from a blowout win to a closer contest, Gauntt said the pitchers have been the trickiest element to adjust to in those situations.
“The hardest thing to adjust to is the pitching speed,” Gauntt said. “If it’s a slower pitcher, it’s harder for us to adjust. If we have consecutive games where we face slow pitching, as soon as we face a faster pitcher, it’s a bit harder for us to adjust because we practice that speed in the cage. It’s definitely hard for me and Jordan because we run-slap and it’s harder for us to adjust our timing.
“We kind of like those games where we don’t run-rule people. We like to make it intense. I think we go into every game thinking we have to give it our all. They’re not just going to roll over and die just because we’re No. 1. I feel that it’s important for us to go in and know that every run counts. No matter how much we score, every run counts.”
