IRVING, Texas (May 4) - The exciting and unprecedented 2007 Aggie Softball season unfortunately came to a close this afternoon. Cameron (27-26, 15-9 LSC N) had made it to the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament for just the second time in school history, but was unable to come away with a postseason win. The Aggies clinched a postseason berth over two weeks ago but didn‘t have enough to go very far in the tournament. CU lost their first-round game against No. 1 seed (LSC South) Angelo State (45-8, 21-3 LSC S), 8-1, and followed that up with a first-round consolation loss to No. 3 seed (LSC South) Tarleton State (34-16, 13-11 LSC S), 4-1.
“The overall experience (of playing in the tournament) was good, especially for the younger girls,” Head Coach Richie Nye said. “At the beginning of the season we were picked second to last in the conference and we proved we were better than that. This experience gives the returning girls something to expect for next season. We won’t be content with just getting back here, we will want to win some games. This raises our team expectation levels for next year.”
The Aggies came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed in the LSC North Division, matching them up with the best team in the South. ASU has also had an extraordinary season, setting all kinds of hitting records. Angelo State and Cameron had matched up three times this season, with all three games going to the Rambelles.
Cameron was looking to turn things around this time, but just couldn’t seem to get the bat on the ball. Angelo State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first two innings, and never looked back. They went up 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, where an RBI single and three-run homerun put the game out of reach for Cameron.
“They (ASU) have been good all year,” Coach Nye said. “They are a very good team that hits the ball very well. We just didn’t do enough today.”
Freshman pitcher Ashton McBride started the game for CU and was saddled with the loss. She went four innings allowing four runs on eight hits. She also walked two and struck out one after facing twenty-two batters.
Sherry Tetreault, another freshman pitcher, came in relief for the final two innings. She allowed four runs on four hits after facing ten batters. Tetreault walked just one.
Offensively, the Aggies were able to get on base but couldn’t drive anyone in. A pair of catchers had the best day at the plate for Cameron, as freshman catcher Callie Schlatter and sophomore catcher/designated player Jenna Boren both went 2-3 at the plate. The duo were the only two Aggies to have multiple hits in the game. Boren also had the team’s only extra-base hit courtesy of a double in the sixth inning.
After losing the first game, Cameron was placed in the Consolation Bracket where they would take on Tarleton State. In this bracket the best CU could hope for was a Consolation Championship and an overall fifth place finish.
Cameron’s second game of the day saw them get behind rather quickly, as the TexAnns put up two runs in just the first inning. CU was able to make it interesting scoring a run in the bottom of the second, but one run was just not enough.
“We really had our hopes up going into the first game (versus ASU) and I think that maybe after getting beat like that it was too much to overcome,” Coach Nye said. “We just couldn’t hit the ball well enough.”
Senior pitcher Amanda Hibbs went the distance in her final appearance as an Aggie, going the entire game for the loss. She gave up all four runs on a mere five hits. She also walked one and struck out two of the thirty batters she faced.
The Aggies were able to out-hit the TexAnns 6-5, but again couldn’t drive in enough runs. Cameron left ten runners on base.
Like the first game, just two Aggies finished with multiple hits against TSU. Senior first-baseman Amista Melvin and sophomore second-baseman Megan Young went 2-3 and 2-4, respectively. Melvin came across the plate for CU’s only run in her final game as an Aggie. Young finished with the team’s only extra-base hit, a double, and the team’s only RBI. She also struck out once.
As mentioned previously, today’s losses end the 2007 season for the Cameron Aggie softball team.
“I’m proud of the girls in the sense that we were shorthanded all season and they still stepped up and made plays,” Coach Nye said. “Overall I think we did well. This was my first year so it took a while to get adjusted with everyone, but now we know so much more about each other and really work well as a team. Next year I won‘t have to re-teach everyone which will allow us to move onto bigger things.”
Coach Nye continued to sum up the very successful 2007 season.
“I’m glad and happy that we finished over .500 on the season,” he said. “I think that was an accomplishment in its own considering our poor start to the season. Hopefully next year we will back to try it again.”
After the summer, the team will enter the offseason training portion of their yearly schedule. Stay tuned to goaggies.cameron.edu for all the latest in offseason information and recruiting updates for the Aggie softball program.
