Lady Dawgs fight valiantly in bi-district playoff loss to Duncanville

By TJ Maxwell
Cove Leader-Press

HILLSBORO - It wasn’t the outcome he wanted but, Copperas Cove head softball coach Bryan Waller was pleased with the effort given by his young squad in the bi-district playoff loss to the no. 7 Duncanville Lady Panthers over the weekend at Hillsboro High School.
“I couldn’t be any prouder,” said Waller after the game two loss. “This is one of the best group of girls I’ve gotten to coach here in Cove. They are cohesive, and they fought to the very end. They believed they could win.
“Defensively, they did everything we could ask of them. They stopped the balls, made the throws and Brooke (Schmidt) once again showed her toughness and grit. She took the world on her shoulders and got out there and got it done. She faced some good hitters in that lineup and did what she had to do to get outs.”
The Lady Dawgs held the powerful Lady Panthers to just six runs combined in the two-game sweep after the Lady Panthers averaged double-digits in their last 14 games.
Trailing 1-0 in the series after a close 3-2 loss on Friday, the Lady Dawgs needed a win on Saturday afternoon to keep their playoff experience alive but a quick run by the Lady Panthers put them in an early hole.
After a three-up, three-down opening at bat for the Lady Dawgs, the Lady Panthers took advantage in their first at-bat with a pair of singles by sophomore Briana Martinez and junior Rubi Diaz. Martinez reached on an infield single to lead off for Duncanville and Diaz connected with a one-out RBI single up the middle for the 1-0 Duncanville lead in the bottom of the first inning.
A one-out double by Cove sophomore Madalyn Scribner put the tying run on for the Lady Dawgs in the top of the second inning but a pair of strikeouts by Duncanville ace Saleen Donohoe halted the threat.
Three more singles knocked in two more runs for the Lady Panthers in the bottom half of the third inning after the Lady Dawgs stranded another runner in the top half of the inning. Cove junior Maria Hanna hit a leadoff single to reach but was left stranded at second.
A one-out single by Donohoe up the third base line and a single to right field by Diaz put a pair of runners on. An errant pickoff attempt allowed Donohoe to score from third before the third-consecutive single made in a 3-0 contest on an RBI single to second base by sophomore Aaliyah Castro after ricocheted off the throwing wrist of Schmidt in the circle.
Schmidt shook off the pain and ended the threat with a strikeout of sophomore Mena Alonzo and a sliding catch on a pop out by Lopez.
“She’s a gamer,” Waller said of his freshman ace. “She’s tough as nails, she defies expectations and that motivates her. She’s not the biggest and she’s not the most powerful but she can make that ball dance. She had them off balance in these two games. Without Brooke, this year could have been really long for us.”
The Lady Panthers threatened again in the bottom of the sixth inning when they put two runners on with no outs. A fielding error allowed junior Eriel Lopez to reach before a single and advance on the throw by junior Leslie Salas put two runners in scoring position. Two flyouts and a strikeout, induced by Cove freshman pitcher Brooke Schmidt, ended the threat.
A single to left field by Cove freshman Alina Salazar-Bowers tried to start a one-out rally but a flyout and strikeout ended Cove’s playoff run.
Diaz (2 for 3, R, RBI) and Castro (2 for 3, RBI) led the Duncanville bats while (Martinez (1 for 4, R), Donohoe (1 for 3, R) and Salas (1 for 3) accounted for the rest of the Lady Panthers’ seven hits in the game.
Donohoe picked up the win in the circle for Duncanville. She allowed no runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking none in seven innings of work.
Salazar-Bowers (1 for 3), Scribner (1 for 3) and Hanna (1 for 2) accounted for the three Copperas Cove runs.
Schmidt suffered the loss in the circle. She allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking none in six innings of action.
In the opening round contest, neither team could strike offensively until the Lady Panthers scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning for a 3-0 lead.
A two-RBI double by Donohoe made it a 2-0 contest and added another run on an RBI single to left.
The Lady Dawgs had multiple opportunities to score early and often, stranding five runners through the first five scoreless innings.
The Lady Dawgs made it a contest with a seventh-inning rally but came up just short. 
Kristen Wasiak singled to reach before Addie Cook reached on a bobble and Jayda Carter connected on a single to juice the bases. Salazar-Bowers then scored Wasiak on a fielder’s choice and Cook scored on an errant throw for the 3-2 score but that was as close as Cove could get.
Carter was 3 for 4 to lead the Lady Dawgs’ bats while Castro and Martinez led the Lady Panthers with a pair of hits each to go with Donohoe’s two RBIs.
Donohoe racked up 12 strikeouts in the win while Schmidt had eight Ks in the loss.
Waller expects his team to be right back here in the playoffs next year as he only loses two players to graduation and returns 14 players with valuable playoff experience.
“It’s huge (returning 14 players). “Losing Addie and McKenna will be hard because they are two of the hardest-working girls I know. They are the leaders of this team. That’s one key thing with these other girls coming back – they have to step up and take charge now. We lose two good ones that were dynamic leaders. The nucleus is there for a good run and we stress to them that it starts Monday. We’re not settling for this anymore. We know we have to get better at the things we’re doing so we can overcome this hurdle.”
Waller is really proud of the growth shown over the year from his young squad.
“Just the way the girls grew and developed,” he said. “To look at us in the very beginning of the season and to look at us now, we are a completely different group of ball players. They are cohesive, they’re gelling, and they push for each other.”
Adding two extra teams to next year’s district lineup will make the return to the postseason a little tougher as nine teams will be vying for four playoff spots in the new District 12-6A.
“We start day one with district and we’ve got to be ready for that,” said Waller. “We’ve got to adjust and take the new challenges head on and take it game by game.”