Softball: Marfa delivers some magic before suffering more regional final heartbreak

MIDLAND The Marfa High School softball team celebrated too early.

That left nothing but tears in the end Saturday for the Lady Shorthorns.

For the third time in as many seasons, Marfa had to watch another team celebrate a Class 1A regional championship at its expense.

This time the culprit was Forsan, which defeated the Lady Shorthorns 8-3 in a decisive Game 3 at the Freddie Ezell Softball Complex.

Forsan advanced to the UIL Class 1A State Championships, with semifinal games slated for 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursday at McCombs Field in Austin.

The Lady Buffaloes (24-10) won the first game of the series 4-3 on Wednesday before Marfa outlasted Forsan 4-3 in 14 innings in Game 2 earlier Saturday.

Marfa (18-6) forced the decisive third game on a leadoff solo home run by Cortnee White in the bottom of the 14th inning.

That blast set off a celebration at the plate by the Lady Shorthorns even as head coach Linda Ojeda tried to get her team back in the dugout and focused on the final contest.

White knew that her blast, though forcing the third game, hurt the team subconsciously, as well.

"I think we relaxed too much," White said, face streaked with tears. "I think we got too comfortable and didn't work as hard as we should have."

The Lady Buffaloes had no such issues as head coach Shanna Roberts quickly tried to erase 14 innings of disappointment in less than 30 minutes.

It worked.

"I told them that everything was brand new and that we were not close to being done," Roberts said. "We were tired after 14 innings, but they were tired too and that's the message I tried to tell the team.

"I told them we needed to start out fast and we did."

Forsan started all three games of the series with runs in the first inning, thanks in large part to the skill of freshman shortstop Ambra Hill.

Leading off Game 3 for the Lady Buffaloes, Hill slapped a single to right field, stole second base, moved to third on a faked sacrifice bunt the drew in the third baseman and then scored on Shelby Jones' infield single.

On the day, Hill was 4-for-7 with four runs scored and two stolen bases. As good as she was on offense, she was equally as impressive on defense, making all the routine plays and then ranging into shallow left field on several occasions to catch fly balls.

"She's very good," Roberts said, smiling. "We are very fortunate to have her."

Marfa countered with White in the leadoff role and she outshone Hill, finishing 8-of-11 on the day with a double and the series-changing home run to end Game 2.

All this while playing with a bruised right thigh suffered during Game 1 when a foul ball came straight down on her left leg just about the shin guard.

Ojeda knew just how well her junior catcher performed.

"Cortnee had a great game," Ojeda said. "She did what she's done all year for us, get things started and then she had the home run to win the first game.

"I think we started to get a little tired mentally in the last game. You could see it when Forsan started to hit the ball a little more. The team used everything up in the first game and it was tough to get them back focused for the second game and Forsan came out ready to play."

While Forsan used pitcher Amanda Longorio in the Game 2, it countered with Alyx Pappajohn in Game 3.

That proved to be beneficial as Ojeda put Brittany Serrano back on the mound for Game 3. Though she battled the entire way, she quickly tired.

After the first-inning run, Forsan scored four more in the third inning and then broke the game open in the fifth inning with five consecutive two-out singles to score three more times.

In her 21 innings of work on Saturday, Serrano finished with 284 pitches, but gave credit to the Lady Buffaloes for their work at the plate.

"They are by far the best hitters I've faced all year," Serrano said. "They hit the ball hard and they run the bases really well, so you have to focus all the time.

"I think that when we won the second game, everyone thought we had the third game won already and relaxed too much."

>> Marfa 4, Forsan 3 (14)

GAME 2

Region I-1A Final

At Freddie Ezell Softball Complex, Midland

Forsan.................. 101      010 000 000   00    -     3              9                      2

Marfa.................... 000      201 000 000   01    -     4              13                    9

Amanda Longorio and Kelsey Jones. Brittany Serrano and Cortnee White. W - Brittany Serrano. L - Amanda Longorio. 2B - Forsan: Ambra Hill, Kelsey Jones; Marfa: Lora Leos, Myra Leos. HR - Marfa: Cortnee White.

>> Forsan 8, Marfa 3

GAME 3

Region I-1A Final

At Freddie Ezell Softball Complex, Midland

Forsan.................. 104      030     0   -     8    12     5

Marfa.................... 000      001     2   -     3      5     3

Alyx Pappajohn and Kelsey Jones. Brittany Serrano and Cortnee White. W - Alyx Pappajohn. L - Brittany Serrano. 2B - Forsan: Kelsey Jones; Marfa: Cortnee White.

Records: Forsan is 24-10; Marfa is 18-5.

Note: Forsan wins the best-of-3 series, 2-1, and advances to the Class 1A state semifinals Thursday at McCombs Field in Austin.