AUSTIN — Lady Cats softball won themselves a Class 2A state championship after threestraight appearances in the state tournament with a win against Como-Pickton High School May 31 at Red & Charline Mc- Combs Field by a final score of 4-3. Both teams went back and forth throughout this game and Weimar had the last laugh with a clutch hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to take home the state trophy.
“This is kind of our season in a nutshell,” said Weimar head softball coach Roger Maupin. “We struggled early in the year trying to find people and where to go.
We’ve been switching defense.
He did a good job of coaching and I had to switch my defense back. We had to change up what we were doing on bunt coverage.
Reagan (Wick) stepped up and she made some key pitches. We got some easy outs. That was the key. The key was making adjustments. That’s the thing with this group that’s been so awesome.
It doesn’t matter who I put in or where I put them, they'll find the ways in order to make plays. We had a dream to win the state title and after three years in a row, it’s finally coming true."
With two runners on in the bottom of the seventh inning and the game tied at three, Weimar senior Paige Pavlu connected on a shot to the left field wall to drive in the game-winning run and grant her team the state championship title. “I knew it was a hard hit ball, so as soon as she took the step forward, I knew it was going over her head,” Pavlu said on her walk-off hit. “I just rounded the bases and saw all my teammates running out of the dugout. It was an unbelievable feeling.”
Lady Cats sophomore Taylor Smith’s hitting in both games was an essential piece to Weimar bringing home the state title. Smith was hitting so well that she was being intentionally walked in the championship game. “It means so much to me to win state,” Smith said. “I’ve been playing softball for 10 years and it’s just so special to me. At the plate, I was just telling myself contact extension, stay through the ball, and just do a job. Don’t try to do too much, just do a job.”
Como-Pickton scored right away on a double to the center field wall after an infield hit to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. A double from Smith to the right-center field wall sent
in junior Izzy Reeves and tied it at one in the very next inning. A wild throw in the top of the third inning from Weimar on a pick off throw after another Como-Pickton double gave the Lady Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
This was followed by another wild throw from Weimar on a grounder to score one more run for Como-Pickton and a 3-1 scoreboard. Smith responded with a double in the Lady Cats’ next at bat to the center field wall after a single to right from Reeves to put it at 3-2. Weimar then loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning and tied the game on a grounder to second that was bobbled. A run scored, then the inning ended on a play at the plate.
Como-Pickton threatened in their next at bat with a double and a sacrifice bunt, but Wick was able to get out of the inning with a routine grounder to third.
A ground out, a strike out, and a fly out from Como-Pickton in the top of the seventh sent Weimar to the plate for the last inning of regulation. A base hit from Reeves led way to an intentional walk for Smith, opening the door for Pavlu to hit a missile to the left field wall for a walk-off base hit and a 4-3 state championship victory.
