Lady Apaches open district with 2 straight losses

GONZALES — Before the first pitch was thrown, the coaching staff was shaken up, as head coach Sam White and assistant softball coach Brock Ramsey, who was also the head girls basketball coach, both resigned before Friday’s game. Their resignation was officially accepted by the Gonzales ISD board of trustees on Monday.

Taking over Friday night was assistant coach Larry Jackson, who was the man in charge as the Lady Apaches opened district with a 27-5 loss against La Vernia on Friday.

After coming out of the first inning tied 0-0, the Lady Apaches would give up 11 runs in the second, seven in the third then nine in the fifth to lose by 22 to their District 30-4A rivals.

The team had a spark after giving up 11, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to seven runs.

“The girls fought hard for me,” Jackson said after the game. “La Vernia is a good ball club. Just to fight and the heart and the courage they showed being down 11 to nothing, fighting back with five runs in an inning, it’s hard. And the girls, they did it. That’s all I can ask for at that particular time. Even throughout the whole game they still fought hard, down 27-5 up until the last bat we still had runners at first and third. That’s all I can ask from them.”

In that second inning, after and Bailey Bennet and Jill Guerra were hit by a pitch, freshman Josselyn Estrada got a one-out, RBI double to plate Bennett begin the scoring for the Lady Apaches. Eventually Guerra, Estrada, Alyssa DeLuna and Shelby Davis all scored to cut the lead to 11-5.

“My little freshman, Josselyn Estrada, designated player, comes and hits a double off the wall over there and scores two runs off of it,” Jackson said. “She’s been a bat in the lineup that’s come through several times. She’s got ice water in her veins. As a freshman that’s huge quality to have, because not everybody can step up in the moment and make things happen.”

After that inning, the Lady Apaches went hitless in the third and fourth frames, getting two hits in the fifth and final inning of the game. Seven batters struck out in the final three innings of the game.

After Friday’s game, Jackson was asked whether he would be named head coach for the remainder of the season.

“I don’t know” Jackson said at the time. “I don’t know what the plan is, I don’t know what’s going to happen, what’s going to go on. That’s as far as I know. I’m just stepping in the role for the girls and that’s all I can say.”

As of press time, the Inquirer has not been told whether this was a permanent move.

The Lady Apaches lost to Cuero on Tuesday 16-9. They host Navarro on Friday with first pitch set at 7 p.m. They then travel to Poteet on Tuesday, March 12.