Grapevine, Heritage softball knocked out earlier than expected

Grapevine softball coach Steve Bottoms got exactly what he wanted after the Lady Mustangs defeated Lake Dallas on April 25 to claim District 6-5A’s second playoff spot.

The matchup against Saginaw Boswell seemed to be a series where the Lady Mustangs could find some success. But that never came close to happening.

This program endured arguably its worst nightmare. The Lady Pioneers dominated from opening pitch to final out and swept the Class 5A Region I bi-district playoff series last week. Boswell won both games, 12-0 and 16-4.

Grapevine’s season ended at 18-11. Sports can be strange because Lake Dallas appeared to have the tougher situation against White Settlement Brewer but wound up winning that single-game playoff.

“They really got to our pitching.” Bottoms said. “They showed a lot more than what we had seen earlier [in a scrimmage] because they have a great team. We were unable to answer their bats.

“It was a combination of their bats and they just played really really well. Boswell was just pretty solid in all three phases, and we were pretty poor.”

So now, the Lady Mustangs will start preparations for the 2017 season in the new District 8-5A. It will feature a reunion with Colleyville Heritage, Birdville, Richland, Fort Worth Carter-Riverside, Fort Worth Eastern Hills, Fort Worth Dunbar and Fort Worth Poly.

This team has some solid core players returning between sophomore pitcher Abby Haugh and third baseman Rachel Dossett, along with her younger sister and center fielder, Allison Dossett. Bottoms also expects shortstop Heather Haggard to move to catcher.

Colleyville Heritage update

The Lady Panthers, who advanced to the postseason in each of head coach Allison Conway’s four seasons, had their postseason run end early.

Colleyville Heritage was swept by Midlothian in the Class 6A Region I bi-district round last week. The program ended its season at 18-16. It finished third in District 7-6A. Midlothian won, 11-2 and 10-6 in nine innings.

In the deciding second game, the Lady Panthers rallied from a 6-3 deficit and tied the game in the sixth inning. But Midlothian scored four runs in the top of the ninth to break it open. Colleyville Heritage missed a chance to win the game in bottom of the eighth when it wasted a leadoff double.

“Definitely, Midlothian was filled with a lot of good hitters,” Conway said. “But we just made some mistakes with our defense that led to some unearned runs.”

This team will lose several standout performers in third baseman Madison Young, catcher Shelby Bourland and first baseman Chloe Martinez. Of course, there was some disappointment because center fielder Sally Delgado was limited to only three games this spring because of injuries.

However, there should be a strong returning nucleus in sophomore pitcher Sydney Kaai, sophomore shortstop Maggie Black and sophomore left fielder Abbie Powell.

Colleyville Heritage will also move down to Class 5A and join the new District 8-5A with GCISD rival Grapevine.

“There are some quality teams in that district,” Conway said. “It will be nice to play Grapevine again head to head.”

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Grapevine, Heritage softball knocked out earlier than expected."