Lady Broncos’ post-season play ends

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos have had a good year on the softball diamond and entered into post-season play for the 17th year in a row.

But their run was ended in the Bi-District game against Abernathy over the weekend.

The ladies played their first game on Friday in Amarillo at Tascosa High School and led up until the rain delay. They were defeated 3-15 by the Lady Antelopes.

According to head coach Gary Jack; the ladies had trouble adjusting to a good team and inclement weather.

“It was a tough weekend for us,” Jack said. “The weather was horrible. It was cold, wet, and windy. Abernathy is the best team we’ve played in the last four to five years. Their pitcher was solid and we had trouble hitting her.”

The Lady Broncos began the game playing fairly good and was able to hit the strong pitcher.

“We led for a little bit,” Jack said. “We were able to shake their pitcher up a little to get some hits, but we couldn’t get anyone in. They had a big fifth inning and pulled ahead to get the win.”

Another glitch for the Lady Broncos was the amount of walks they were able to get.

“They only had five hits,” Jack said. “But we walked 16 batters. It was a tough game for us.”

On Saturday, the Lady Broncos’ game was moved to Lubbock because of the weather in Amarillo. The short night and longer did not help the team and they could never find a rhythm on either side.

“We dug ourselves into a big hole from the first inning,” Jack said. “They hit the ball really well and we just couldn’t stay with them. Their pitcher was solid on Saturday and we just didn’t have the best game.”

Jack gave Abernathy a lot of praise for their caliber of play.

“I give them lots of credit, they are a really solid team.”

Jack gave credit to all the Lady Broncos, but will miss coaching the five seniors.

“I sure hate the loss for the five seniors,” he said. “They have been a big part of our softball program for the last four years. They have kept us in the playoffs.”

Jack also noted that because of different reasons, the Lady Broncos had a slow start this year.

“I am proud of how hard the ladies have played, but we had a slow start developing our team,” he said. “Because of doctor releases and things, we only had four games before the playoffs where we had our entire team together. But we will keep working hard and comeback better next year.”

The five graduating seniors are Briana Butler, Briley Chadwick, Jensen Hatley, Allyson Hogan, and Zaryia Smith. MaRae Hall was the manager for the Lady Broncos.