Thrilling Ending

MHS Swings Past Sherman 8-7 In Softball Season Opener

Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the McKinney High softball team knew it had some work to do.

Down 7-4, the Lionettes needed some serious consistency in the box for a chance to win their season opener against Sherman. But they kept swinging and kept believing as they pulled out an 8-7 win Tuesday night at MHS.

“I think they really believed they could score four runs and get the win,” MHS coach Jeremy Greenway said. “This is really more than I expected for our home opener. It was exciting to see the girls fight through for seven innings.”

In the seventh, McKinney (1-0) loaded the bases before sophomore Jennifer Guzman’s walk brought in sophomore Jennifer Gilbert. The Lionettes stayed aggressive offensively as sophomore Gina Guajardo came in next off a groundout by freshman Meredith Baker.

But the biggest pressure fell on the shoulders of senior Lauren Touchberry, who had two Lionettes in scoring position and almost a full count. Touchberry, McKinney’s only senior, ripped a game-winning RBI up the middle to seal the victory.

“I had to relax because I hadn’t hit very well throughout the game,” said Touchberry of her last time at bat. “I’m really glad it paid off. I just know we were really concentrated on wanting to win and it didn’t matter how hard we had to work, we were going to pull it off.”

Offense has been a huge focus for MHS for quite some time. Greenway told the Lionettes Sherman would be a tough test for them, and their offense was especially critical in the seventh.

“We’ve been working on offense since April 21st, the day after the season ended last year,” Greenway said. “We just said let’s see what your offense is made of. We scored eight runs. It’s hard to get beat when you score eight runs.”

Much like the seventh, the Lionettes made some clutch plays to pull ahead in the sixth inning.

Baker helped tie it up 3-3 as she ripped a double to right field, bringing in Guzman. Shortly after, sophomore Haley Pruitt stole third before freshman Lisa Licata’s base hit brought Pruitt home for the one-run lead.

MHS also stayed pretty consistent offensively early as it took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when sophomore Ashley Thomas’ double helped Touchberry and Licata score.

Beating Sherman, which advanced through three rounds of the playoffs last year, was even sweeter for MHS because Sherman has ruined McKinney’s opening day for the past two years.

“We came in having a pretty bad record last year and losing half of our varsity for half the season, to get this win feels really good,” said first baseman Jordan Calk. “We were all pumped. We were ready to win. We have been beat by Sherman for the past two years, and we were ready to get that win out especially at home.”

MHS heads to the Bryan/College Station Tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday.

Subvarsity Results

The MHS JV fell to Sherman 10-0 Tuesday night at home.

Staff writer Angie Wallace covers softball for McKinneyNews.net.