4A Region I quarterfinals: Guyer vs. Joshua
Well, I'm sitting here at my friend's house in Pflugerville (home of TV's Dillon Panthers) and getting ready for the UIL state track meet that begins tomorrow where many area athletes will be competing.
Because of the trip, I'll unfortunately be missing Guyer's series with Joshua for the chance to advance to the regional semifinal. Guyer's made great strides this year -- having never won a playoff game before this year -- and frankly, no matter what happens this season will be viewed as a great success considering the team's youth (starts five freshmen and three sophomores).
Speaking of softball, I was a ringer last night in my buddy's beer league softball game and we played the best team in the league and beat them 16-10. Thing was, we scored all 16 of our runs in the third inning, thanks in large part to my bases loaded triple.
Now, back to the real softball.
I think this series will be a great one for a couple of reasons, most notably the matchup fans will see of a speedy, aggressive lineup against Guyer's defense which for the most part has been rock solid in the postseason.
After watching Game 2 of Joshua's series against Ryan, which Ryan won, I came away impressed mostly with the Lady Owls' speed and athleticism. Just about every girl on that team looked like she should be running the 100-meter dash this weekend in Austin. They were all stacked (big muscles) and could run, very fast, especially their third baseman. Trust me, you'll see.
They're a team that likes to slap hit and use their speed to make things happen on the base paths and will definitely make you pay for errors, which is what they did to Ryan. That's why Guyer's going to have to play lights out defense, which aside from one game in the Azle series and one inning in the Fort Worth Southwest series, they've done.
As for hitting, I really think Guyer will be able to hit Joshua's pitchers. From what I saw in that one game against Ryan, I wasn't impressed with Joshua's pitchers. Now, I didn't see Game 1, when they threw a gem against a stout Ryan lineup, but still, I think Guyer can hit them.
Guyer has seen the best pitcher they will face until the regional final with Aledo's Whitney Canion. The Lady Wildcats managed to beat Azle and pitcher Sarah Mendez, who was great. From what I saw, Joshua's pitchers are good, but not great.
As for the series, I see it definitely going three games and I really think it's going to be a toss-up as for who wins. If Kylee Crosek pitches like she has this postseason, she's going to be tough to beat. I'll go with a Guyer win in three games.