Have the Lady Highlanders gotten their groove back?

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Following a 3-2 home district loss to Oak Ridge back on March 17, The Woodlands Lady Highlanders softball Head Coach Richard Jorgensen thought some of his players were “pressing a little too much.”

The loss for the Lady Highlanders was their second of the month, dropping a 6-3 decision at home to Atascocita, back on March 3. The Lady Highlanders suddenly had two district losses for a team that hadn’t lost two district games in the previous five seasons combined. The talent pool of the Lady Highlanders is very deep as they returned a large majority of the team that went to the state final last season. To prove how talented the Lady Highlanders are, for the third consecutive season, all senior softball players have signed National Letter’s of Intent to play softball at the collegiate level.

So, what went wrong?

A combination of young players like freshman Alayis Seneca on the team, alongside savvy veterans, Jorgensen thought that two or three players were “feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders and that they needed to just relax and get back to just playing softball.”

Following the loss to Oak Ridge, The Woodlands Lady Highlanders boarded a plane the next day and went to probably the best place for a distraction, Walt Disney World. While in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, the Lady Highlanders played in their semi-annual tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and came out focused and ready the following morning. The Woodlands took down Blair Academy of New Jersey, 22-0, in three innings in which the Lady Highlanders collected 21 hits in the game, and scored 18 runs in the top of the third inning alone.

Although the Lady Highlanders had a 4-0 lead going into the top of the third, that third inning could be the turning point in the 2015 season for the Lady Highlanders that saw them erupt, as if the Lady Highlanders were making their best impersonation of Howard Beale in the 1976 movie, Network.

The Woodlands since March 17, is 4-0 overall, including 3-0 in district, outscoring their last four opponents by a combined margin of 62-3.

The Lady Highlanders are now 19-2 overall and 6-2 in the district and just one game back of first place and No. 1 Atascocita, who vaulted to the No.1 state-ranking after defeating The Woodlands in their first match-up on March 3. The Lady Highlanders have seemed to relax and play softball have gotten their groove back in the process.

Any thoughts of district struggles for The Woodlands can be proven premature when the Lady Highlanders look to force a first-place tie tonight with a win at Atascocita.