The Lady Magic softball team competed in the Region XVI Tournament during April 29 and April 30, in Florissant, Mo. With a rollercoaster regular season and an overall record of 11-29, the Magic looked to rebound in the tournament. After proving their regular season record was a statistical hiccup, the first day of the tournament, the second day ultimately was the end of their year.
Spencer Gleason
– Sports Editor –
When the final out was recorded for the 2010 Lady Magic softball team in the Region XVI Tournament, last season, the Magic had finished in second place. Looking to build off of a silver medal, the Magic entered the 2011 campaign with hopes of achieving gold.
“I would take our successes that we had toward the end of the tournament and the momentum that we had toward that last game and we build it into a team that has more talent, more aggressiveness and more hunger to get that regional title this year,” head coach Kim McCall said at the beginning of the season.
However, due to the inclement weather at the beginning of the season, the Magic held practices inside the gymnasium. With eight of their first 16 games being rained out, the Magic first found the win column during an eight-game stretch in four days while in Pensacola, Fla.
In total, 18 games, including their last six, along with the Daffodil Classic and Meramec Invitational, were rained out and not replayed. With 35 percent of their games lost because of weather, the Magic were never able to get in the swing of things; compiling an 11-29 regular season record and a .291 winning percentage (7-17) against teams in their conference.
“This weather has not been kind to us at all,” McCall said after a 9-1 loss to Mineral Area College on March 31. “You can say this season has been a rollercoaster.”
For as many ups and downs that the Lady Magic had over the course of the year, they looked for a rebound in the 2011 Region XVI Tournament. There, in the double-elimination tournament, everybody started over with a 0-0 record.
However, just as it had earlier in the season, the rain from the nights before April 29 forced the Magic’s first game of the tournament into a 2 hour and 21 minute rain delay. Once the field dried up enough to play softball, the Magic took the field and the first pitch was thrown for a strike at 12:21 p.m.
“[The butterflies] settled down a lot,” starting pitcher Lauren Menning said after the 9-2 victory over rival STLCC-Florissant Valley Fury. “We were really confident coming into these games and we knew we had business to take care of, so we just went and did our job and it showed.”
After allowing one run to score in the top of the first, Menning settled into a rhythm and went the distance, allowing only one other runner to cross home plate.
“She’s pretty good about picking herself back up,” catcher Ally Kubel said during a postgame interview. “When she gets going she’s fine. She’s got the motivation.”
Kubel helped lead the Magic offensively, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and one run scored.
“It definitely makes it easier,” Menning said about her team putting up crooked numbers on the scoreboard. “I like those games where we don’t have to play run for run. We did that today. We came out really strong and proved a point.”
After making a statement against the Fury, the Magic set their sights on the Mineral Area College (MAC) Cardinals from Park Hills, Mo.
The top-seeded Cardinals were the defending two-time Region XVI Champions, winning the title in both 2010 and 2009. During the regular season, the Magic went 0-4 against the Cardinals and they were outscored 44-13.
“We got some making up to do [for this MAC game],” Menning said before the start of the second game. “We need to go to work… we definitely got another point to prove to MAC. They think they’ve got this. We’re not going to let that happen.”
Although the Magic came up on the short end of the stick in a 6-3 final, in four different innings the Magic either had the tying run or lead run at the plate. A fifth time, in the bottom of the seventh, the Magic had it staged for the tying run standing in the on deck circle, giving the Cardinals their closest game en route to their third consecutive title.
With only one loss, the Magic played their third game of the day against the Cottey College Comets. The bats came alive and the pitching put up a goose egg in a 13-0 final. The Magic had lived to play another day.
However, one more game was all the Magic had left, as they lost 10-4 against the East Central College Falcons the following day, April 30; and with that, their season was over.
“They’re a special group of girls,” McCall said after their final game against the Falcons. “They continued to battle through adversity throughout the season. We started off very slow and then picked it up… They were a special group that fought all the way through it… It’s going to take them farther in life than what they know. If they can fight hard through adversity here in just a softball game then they’re going to make it through adversity in life.”
