St. Joseph falls in TAPPS state title game
BELTON -- St. Joseph's first appearance in a state softball final didn't go as well or last as long as the Lady Eagles hoped, so they had to settle for getting there and getting after it.
Galveston O'Connell unleashed a hitting barrage that compounded the Lady Eagles' fielding woes as the Lady Bucs rolled to an 18-4 victory in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 3A championship game Saturday afternoon at Dillon Field on the Mary Hardin-Baylor campus.
The Lady Eagles finished the season 16-10, reaching the TAPPS title game for the first time in program history. St. Joseph made the state tournament three other times, losing in the semifinal round on each trip.
"It was a tough loss, but it's still OK because we worked hard to get here and we made school history," said Kelsey Dillard, who was joined on the all-tournament squad by teammates Hollie Chennault and Marianne Damian. "It was still a great senior year, going to the championship game. I'm really proud of the whole team."
Powerhouse O'Connell won its seventh state title in the last eight years, needing five innings to secure a run-rule victory and finish at 18-3. The Lady Bucs claimed six consecutive championships before last year, when they beat St. Joseph in the playoffs before losing the state final to Waco Reicher, 6-5.
"It was not a good ride home last year and it wasn't a good week after, either," O'Connell coach Bubba Robinson said. "The girls said at the beginning of the year they were going to pull together and get back here. As you can see, they did."
St. Joseph gave up three unearned runs because of shaky defense in the top of the first inning, but the Lady Eagles managed to make some good memories. Chennault blasted the game's only home run leading off the first to delight the St. Joseph fans.
The Lady Eagles trailed 11-1 in the fourth inning and had the bases loaded with two outs when freshman Ellie Lipscomb smacked a liner that got past the charging right fielder for a three-run triple. Lipscomb clapped her hands happily after sliding into third base and on-deck hitter Hannah Watt jumped for joy.
"It is a bittersweet day," Chennault said. "We had a lot of freshmen that came through, like Ellie getting that triple. I'm proud that we got here, but at the same time a gold [medal] would have looked a lot better."
St. Joseph managed three hits -- Makenzie Mosier had an infield single -- against O'Connell pitcher Amy Hallett, who had thrown no-hitters in her two previous games. The senior right-hander struck out seven batters, including five in a row after Chennault led off the first with her home run.
Hallett (11-1) was one of four Lady Bucs to collect three hits as O'Connell finished with 21. Several balls were softly hit to places just beyond St. Joseph's reach, but several were hit on the nose.
The game got away from the Lady Eagles because of defense. St. Joseph missed two pop flies in the first and finished with five errors, allowing 10 unearned runs.
"You're not going to beat a good team making errors," St. Joseph coach Lance Giese said. "They've got some great hitters. I didn't think they could be as good as they were last year, but I think they are. They pounded the ball pretty good on us."
O'Connell 18, St. Joseph 4
O'Connell 305 37 -- 18 21 3
St. Joseph 100 30 -- 4 3 5
Kelsey Dillard, Hollie Chennault (4) and Makenzie Mosier. Amy Hallett and Lacey Hayward. W Hallett, 11-1. L -- Dillard, 14-6. 2B -- O'Connell: Katie Delgado, Hallett, Lanie Robinson, Haley Webster. 3B -- St. Joseph: Ellie Lipscomb; O'Connell: Katherine Hogan. HR -- St. Joseph: Chennault. Records -- St. Joseph 16-10, O'Connell 18-3. Time -- 1:32.