SAN ANTONIO – There was a lot riding on the outcome of Tuesday’s softball game between Geneva School of Boerne and Holy Cross, namely a trip to the TAPPS state tournament.
The district rivals met at UTSA Tuesday in the regional finals and the winner advanced to the state semifinals on May 9 in Arlington.
Tuesday’s contest had a little bit of everything and contained nine ties or lead changes before the Knights defeated the Eagles by a run, 11-10.
There were four home runs in the game, three from Holy Cross, two of them coming in the seventh inning for the final lead change in the back-andforth game.
Geneva softball coach Tim Milage said his girls gave it everything they had and battled to the last pitch.
“Meeting with the team after the tough loss, I couldn’t help but notice how spent my players were,” he said. “I am proud to say, without reservation, that my team left everything on the field.”
The teams scored in bunches of 3 for most of the game. In the second, a 3-run homer by the Knights’ Haven Castillo put Holy Cross up 3-0.
Geneva answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the third to tie it up and then the Eagles added 3 more runs in the fourth to double up the Knights at 6-3. Reese Smith had the big hit for the Eagles in the fourth with a 2-RBI single.
But Holy Cross tied it in the top of the fifth with another 3-run inning and it was knotted at 6-6. From there, the Knights pushed in another run in the sixth and went up 7-6.
Geneva came up to bat in the and tied it after Landry Smith scored to make it 7-7, and the Eagles weren’t done yet.
Smith and Madeline Egbert both scored to build the Geneva advantage to 9-7. Kate Friesenhahn came up and knocked one out of the park and the Eagles were leading 10-7, but it didn’t last.
In the top of the seventh, Holy Cross put its No. 8 and 9 batters on with one out thanks to a single and a walk.
That’s when Castillo came up and blasted her second 3-run shot out of the park and the Knights had tied it.
Leena Garcia was the next batter and followed Castillo’s homer with a solo shot out of the park as well for back-toback home runs to account for all four of the Knights’ runs in the inning.
Geneva retired the next two batters to take it to the bottom of the seventh where they had one last chance to tie or win it, but the Eagles went down in order.
Castillo, who is also the Holy Cross pitcher, retired the first three Geneva batters she faced with a fly out to centerfield, a pop up to second and a strikeout to end it.
Afterwards, Milage said he expressed to the team how proud he was of them.
“In our postgame team meeting, I focused on their tremendous effort and commitment to each other. I did my best to describe how much they meant to me personally and to our school community,” he said. “This team relied on grit and determination. That competitive spirit will serve them well for the rest of their lives.”
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