They did it with adept fielding. They did it with timely hitting. And they did it with guts.
Mineola is exactly two wins away from the Texas 3A Division 1 softball championship.

The Lady Jackets defeated Whitesboro, 8-4, last Friday in Caddo Mills to sweep the
regional final series.

It was not easy. The Whitesboro gang was embarrassed in game one and proved to be
a different team in game two. But, when they needed it most, the Lady Jackets
demonstrated more heart.

At no time was that more evident than in the top of the third inning. With one out and
one on, Mineola starter Jadelyn Marshall faced the top of the Whitesboro order – Texas
home run leader Avery Howerton.

Smartly, Mineola pitched around the slugger throughout the series, but with a 2-1 count,
Howerton reached a low pitch and sent an absolute rocket back at Marshall. The ball
was hit with such velocity that it was difficult to see exactly where it hit Marshall. It is
believed to have cracked-off her left shin – with a sickening sound.

The ball ricocheted to first baseman Journie Wilson who made an unassisted play to
put-out Howerton on the base path. Marshall, meanwhile, had crumbled in the circle.
After an extended delay, Marshall regained her composure, took two warm-up pitches
and continued chunking.

That was guts.

Marshall ended up tossing seven innings, spreading eight hits, striking-out two and
giving up three free passes. Her performance, especially after the come-backer,
communicated a message to everyone on the diamond – the Lady Jackets were not
accepting defeat, this day.

Mineola put two runs up in the first on a single-double-single sequence by Mahayla
McMahon, Journie Wilson and Coco Nguyen. Two errors in the bottom half gifted a run
to Whitesboro. The Bearcats returned the favor in second and the score stood 3-1, Lady
Jackets.

Whitesboro tied the game in the third, with a two-run double to the right-center field gap.
Mineola logged two runs in the fourth on an RBI-triple off the bat of Caroline Castleberry
and a sacrifice fly from Kaitlyn McMahon.
In the fifth and sixth innings it was the long ball which padded the scoreline. Nguyen
sent a line drive over the centerfield fence for two runs in the fifth, and Mahayla

McMahon timed contact with a change-up to arc a high drive to left-center for a solo
shot in the sixth.

It was defense, however, which preserved the win for Mineola. The Lady Jackets
gunned down a Bearcat at the plate in the second inning and put-out a lead runner at
third in the following inning. Cali Chrietzberg turned an unassisted out at third into a
double play to end the fifth, and a 6-5-3-5 double play killed a seventh-inning
Whitesboro rally.

It was quite a productive fielding day for the Lady Jackets, despite two uncharacteristic
errors in the second inning.

Adept fielding, timely hitting and guts – that is the same recipe which will be needed in
Austin. In what has become a historic season for Lady Jacket softball, there is a very
real opportunity to claim the state 3A crown.