Lady Trojan softball has played multiple challenging teams recently, including Westlake (2-5 in district), Lake Travis (4-6 in district), Dripping Springs (8-1 in district), and Austin High (6-2 in district). The move to 6A has proved to be a significant obstacle for Anderson, and the team is currently 0-10 in district play and 8-18 overall. Despite this, they continue to learn and adapt to be better prepared for next season.
During the preseason interview with Coach Rodriguez, she mentioned that the team needs to work on “shutting down innings after two outs,” which is still proving difficult. In the past several games, Anderson’s opponents have gone on a scoring run, and the Lady Trojans could not get the outs they needed to close out the innings. On March 28th against Austin High, they had two outs at the bottom of the sixth inning but let it go on too long, giving up another two runs. A similar thing happened against Lake Travis, where the Lady Trojans led the whole game, but one inning got out of hand, which cost them the win. To succeed against these 6A teams, defense and pitching must be excellent to prevent these scoring streaks.
Even through their challenges, Anderson has hit ten home runs this season. Andranea Jackson, Lila Harrell, and Leti Paiz have played a significant part, with three homers each and Willa Glover adding one. There is no doubt that this team has lots of power behind their hits, which is an advantage against fiercer competition.
Anderson has a young team, with just three seniors and seven underclassmen. The level of play is also drastically different from previous years, so this season has been one of learning and adjustment. Although it’s unlikely that the Lady Trojans will make playoffs, it’s never too early to start preparing for next year now that they know what the competition will be like.
Don’t count softball out yet: there are still plenty of games left to improve their district standing. Come out and support the Lady Trojans at Noack Field on Tuesday when they take on Johnson (12-5-1) for the second time this season.
