TC bounced back from a heartbreaking loss on the event’s opening day to win two straight Saturday before heavy rains put the tournament on hold until Tuesday.
Caitlin Austin pitched a no-hitter in a 2-0 win over Ranger College and Kayla Shepherd followed with a two-hitter in a 2-1 victory against McLennan Community College to keep the Lady Leopards at the Ballfields at Craig Ranch.
Temple - which fell to Grayson County College in nine innings Friday night - was down 3-0 to Grayson through three innings in Saturday’s rematch when a downpour of rain ended all action for the day.
The tournament will resume at 2 p.m. Tuesday, with Temple needing to rally past Grayson and defeat North Central Texas College twice to advance to the NJCAA Division I Tournament in St. George, Utah.
“We left the ballpark (Friday) thinking our season may be over,” TC coach Larry Hennig said. “Now we have new life and that’s all you can ask for.”
Austin (25-5) made sure the Lady Leopards (48-18) stayed alive with a 17-strikeout performance against Ranger. A walk in the first inning and two in the second were the only base runners allowed by Austin, who retired the final 17 batters and struck out the side three times.
“We had a lot of things to think about after losing last night,” Hennig said. “The girls talked about going to the national tournament and not wanting to stop playing. Caitlin was definitely one of those that didn’t want to stop playing. Her performance couldn’t have come at a better time.”
The Lady Leopards scored a run in the first when Michelle Stratta singled home McKenzie Sickler. After that, Ranger’s Patsy Ojeda kept Temple in check, retiring 11 consecutive batters until TC added an insurance run in the top of the sixth.
“She’s given us trouble all year,” Hennig said of Ojeda. “That game was really hard for us to get up for because we lose in (extra innings) the night before and have to get up and play at 9 a.m.”
It wasn’t hard for the Lady Leopards to get up for McLennan, which had handed TC three of its four conference losses.
Shepherd (20-10) was perfect through three innings and didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, when the Highlassies posted their lone run. TC had scratched out a 2-0 lead in the third on Lindsey Matt’s RBI single and Stratta’s run-scoring double.
“The hitting has been a big variable every weekend it seems,” Hennig said. “No doubt we had better at-bats against MCC’s pitcher (Tressie Kielman) than we did against Ranger. We were getting some pretty good cuts in. She’s a good pitcher.”
Austin started the rematch with Grayson and wasn’t as solid as she was in the opener. She allowed a solo home run to Ryan Rickman to start the second, then got into trouble in the third. After giving up a base hit to Ashley McAnally and back-to back walks, Hennig pulled her in favor of Shepherd.
“When I went out there, (catcher Shelby Shepperd) indicated that the pitches weren’t breaking off as good as they were earlier,” Hennig said. “She wasn’t even close on some.
“So I told (Austin) we wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t gotten us this far, but we have somebody fresh ready to come in. Let’s let her finish the job.”
Shepherd limited the damage in the third to two runs. And before Temple came to bat in the top of the fourth, the rain came.
“Certainly, when the rains came we didn’t shed any tears,” said Hennig, who was not fond of the idea of having to win five games Saturday to win the tournament. “(Overcoming the 3-0 deficit) will be a challenge. But I don’t know that three runs are that big a mountain to climb.
“These girls have done things all year that I didn’t think was possible, when I was ready to throw in the towel on them. They’ve come back and won some big games, so anything is possible.”
If the Lady Leopards rally to beat the Lady Vikings, they will have to knock off tournament unbeaten North Central twice to advance.
But Hennig likes his chances. TC has won all four meetings this season and outscored the Lady Lions 27-1.
“We’ve matched up well with them all season,” Hennig said. “Certainly they probably would rather be facing Grayson than us. But we have to take care of Grayson first.”
