By T. Scott Boatright
Michael Jordan would have been proud of the Choudrant Lady Aggies Friday evening, even though things didn’t go their way.
A well-known quote from the basketball great was Jordan saying, “Sometimes things might not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.”
The effort was there from start to finish on Friday for the Choudrant softball team, but momentum jumped on Stanley’s side from the Lady Panthers’ first at bat as they rolled to a 10-1 win over the Lady Aggies in second-round action of the Division V Nonselect School playoffs at the CHS softball field.
Stanley led off the game with a single before Choudrant pitcher Holly Bennett struck out the second batter she faced.
That brought up Stanley catcher Jade Jones, who promptly launched a towering two-run blast over the centerfield fence to put the Lady Panthers on top 2-0.
But that didn’t deter Choudrant’s effort.
The Lady Aggies made it a 2-1 game in the bottom half of the opening stanza as catcher Zoey Smith blasted a triple with two outs before scoring off an RBI-single from shortstop Addison Worley.
Unfortunately for Choudrant, the Lady Panthers were only just beginning their hit parade.
The way Stanley hit the ball on the night wasn’t a surprise for Choudrant coach Wayne Antley.
“We knew it was going to be a scoring game,” Antley said. “That’s what we talked about heading into the game. We hit some, but they made every defensive play. We didn’t play defensively, but they outhit us. We knew they were good, and they showed it.”
Those defensive plays included Stanley third baseman Riley Palmer instinctively reacting to somehow catch not one but two fireball line drives hit by Choudrant’s Bailey Grace Weaver that would have both been singles in most games.
The effort was there for the Lady Aggies. Things just didn’t go their way this time.
Stanley added two more runs in the top of the second inning off a two-RBI single from leadoff batter Madeline Castillo and then took firm control in the fourth inning, scoring three runs off of three hits to push the Lady Panthers out to a 7-1 lead.
The Lady Aggies added another run in the top of the fifth off a line drive drilled directly into Bennett’s left thigh as she went down in the circle.
But the Choudrant pitcher gamely continued pitching, only to have Jones send another towering two-run dinger over the centerfield fence.
Antley admitted he considered intentionally walking Jones for a second straight time before deciding to go ahead and have Bennett pitch to her.
“The first one not so much because we knew she was going to hit,” Antley said. “Then she got to us on that second one. We thought about pitching around her on the second one, but she can hit it anywhere close.”
Worley and Bennett switched positions at the top of the sixth inning, with Worley taking the circle and finishing with two strikeouts with one hit and three walks.
“We knew we were probably going to have to do that (make a pitching change) just to change the speed of the pitches because they’re such good hitters,” Antley said. “We knew that. We watched them play about five ballgames and knew what they had.”
Stanley finished with 12 hits while the Lady Aggies managed only four.
“We knew sooner or later they were going to get their timing (at the plate) down,” Antley said. “But they hit all ballgame. You’ve got to give it to them.”
Smith led the Lady Aggies with a 2-of-2 performance at the plate, adding a single and a walk at the plate.
“She’s a very consistent hitter,” Antley said of Smith. “But the thing that impressed me most was her last at bat. She could have gone out swinging but she took a walk. She did it for the team.”
The third-seeded Lady Aggies, who saw their season end with a record of 19-6, will lose only senior Piper Bowen and will return six current juniors for the 2025 season.
And Antley knows his team will come back with just as much effort for that campaign.
“We’re losing one starter, so we’ve got most of them coming back,” Antley said. “So next year, hopefully we’ll be ready.”
