What a weekend! Washington ended up getting host(I honestly didn't think they would) and they were the 16th seed. They had Texas Tech, Harvard, and Maryland in their Regional. I was most worried about Tech. They had knocked off Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri during the regular season. So I knew they were good! I honestly didn't know what to expect from the Huskies. That last weekend of the regular season was a nightmare and I really hoped we didn't get a repeat.
They started off playing Harvard on Friday. Kaitlin Inglesby got the start in the circle and she was lights out! She gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and had 7 strikeouts! She seemed to find her confidence again and be feeling better! Offense was not great but in the 4th Jerrin and Shawna both got on and Kimberlee Souza knocked a 2 RBI double! That was all the runs they would need! Saturday they played Tech. I was pretty nervous for this game. Kasey Stanchek got the start and pitched 4 hitless innings! She did walk 4 but hung tough and bounced back. Kaitlin Inglesby came in, in the 5th after Kasey walked the first batter she saw on 4 pitches. Kaitlin gave up 2 hits, hit 1, and struckout 2. Huskies scored one run on a bases loaded walk to Kylee Lahners and Shawna Wright(whose bat was hot this weekend!) knocked in a run with single! Again because of the great pitch effort of Kasey and Kaitlin that was all the runs they needed. That win put them into the Regional Championship today. It's been probably since the preseason that I've felt as relaxed and calm about a Husky game as I did this one today! I just knew they were going to win this game and head into the Super Reigionals! Bryana Walker got the start in the circle. Huskies were the visiting team in this game and started off the game well. Victoria Hayward reached on an error and promptly stole 2nd! Kaitlin hit a single and Victoria scored to give the Huskies the early the lead(turns out that 1 run would be enough to win but they weren't done!). Bryana walked the first batter she saw on 4 straight balls. She then buckled down and struck out the next two batters and got the next hitter to ground out to her. In the 4th inning, Shawna Wright got on with a single and a few batters later Victoria Hayward walked. Niki Williams came to the plate with 2 on and 2 out and smashed a ball out of the park to put the Huskies up 4-0! Bryana continued to pitch well and work her way out of jams. In the 7th, she gave up a lead of single and I started to worry a little bit but my worries were unfounded. She struck out the next 3 batters to send the Huskies to the Super Regionals! She went 7 innings gave up only 4 hits, 2 walks, hit 1, and stuck out 7! Huskies didn't allow a single run this weekend! Pitching was great and defense was great! They made a couple of changes to the defense. The biggest being moving Kimberlee Souza from SS to 3rd base and moving Courtney Gano from 3rd base to SS. I wasn't so sure about the move at first but I think it's actually going to work out well! Courtney did a great job at SS this weekend and other than a couple of issues Kimberlee did nice at 3rd base! Offense was still not dominating but they scored runs when they needed to! It was a great weekend and I shed some tears when that game ended today! I am so unbelievably proud of these ladies and what they did this weekend! Alot of people thought Tech would upset them and it just didn't happen! It didn't happen because the Huskies didn't let it! This team has had it's fair share of struggles but I never for one minute felt they stopped fighting! They play Cal in Berkley for Super Regionals. Honestly I don't know what will happen next weekend but no matter what happens I'm proud of this team and I'm proud that they've made it back to Super Regionals! I would love to see them beat Cal and make it to OKC but I am not naive and I know it's going to be very hard for them to do that! But no matter what this young team has shown fight, serious talent, heart, and they are gaining some great experience from this! Nice weekend ladies! You made this Husky fan very proud!!
Other crazy things going on this weekend was both UCLA and Florida being eliminated! Things started off bad for Florida when it broke that 3 of their starters had been suspended and wouldn't play Friday night. By the time their game was over it was breaking that those players weren't just suspended but had been released from the team. They lost the game Friday night. They won one game Saturday but couldn't get past USF. I don't know what happened and I'm not even going to make any guesses. I'm just going to say that I think it's sad to see a team like Florida ripped apart like that and I wish them all the best! I feel so bad for Michelle Moultrie. I know this was not at all how she pictured her senior season ending! UCLA has been known all season as the team with a great offense and no pitching. Well this weekend they had little offense and actually pretty good pitching. They lost to Hofstra Friday night and Florida State on Saturday to end their season.
Sooners had a great Regional and will host Arizona next weekend! Jessica Shultz had a grand slam HR and a solo HR in today's game to knock off Oregon State! Very happy for them! Bama also had a great weekend and they will host Michigan next weekend! I'm looking forward to next weekend and all the great games!
There is so much happiness and great things about this time of year but there is also some sadness. As these teams are knocked out and their seasons end we see the end of so many great careers. I already mentioned Michelle Moultrie. But we also saw the end of Stephanie Ricketts, Ashley Hansen, Jenna Caira, and many other great careers! I just want to take a moment and tell these ladies congrats on wonderful careers and thank them for what they did for their schools and the sport of softball!
Well that is all I have for now! Go Huskies!! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama!!
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