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Leading the Charge: Horn quartet of seniors hoping to save the best for last
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@acnpapers.com
It has been quite a run of late for the Horn softball team.
The Jaguars have not only made the playoffs for the past five years, but they are coming off back-to-back trips to the regional semifinals.
They took the first step toward making it three in a row this past week by sweeping its bi-district best-of-3 series against A&M Consolidated to move to the area finals.
While all teams lean on veteran leadership at this stage of the season, it is particularly important for the Jaguars. Seniors Melanie Jaegers, Jordan Bratcher, Coree Gladden and Delaney Brey have been a part of several big playoff games in previous years but their teammates have not.
Outside of that quartet, Horn's roster is comprised mostly of underclassmen making their first trip to the playoffs.
"That group of seniors has a lot of playoff experience," Horn head coach Patty Dyer said. "They are a big key in helping the young ones get ready for what they can expect."
The seniors took a hands-on approach to helping getting the team ready in the week leading up the series against A&M Consolidated. In the playoffs, the learning curve needs to be quick.
Horn responded in the opener, holding off a number of rallies to claim a 7-6 victory.
"I basically told them that this was a completely different experience and it was like nothing they had been through before," Bratcher said. "After that first game, when they saw how intense and how exciting every second is, it really opened their eyes, but at the same time, they really stepped up."
With the first-game jitters out of the way, Horn played even better in game two. Danielle Najera tossed a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 series-clinching victory. Bratcher and Jaegers each drove in key runs and Bratcher and Brey made run-saving defensive plays.
"It is big to have them talking to the younger players and keeping them calm, but they also made big plays at big times," Dyer said. "They did what you need seniors to step up and do."
Horn is in no way looking beyond this weekend. Although they did post a victory over Rowlett during tournament play earlier this season, they know that means nothing now.
"We've been working hard and getting better since then, but so have they," Jaegers said. "We can't think about that first game."
Still, the thought of making another extended run is something that has crossed the players' minds. Getting so close to the ultimate goal of Austin is something that will stick around for a while.
"It is a huge motivating factor for the seniors," Jaegars said. "It is bittersweet, to be so close you can almost taste it, and for our senior year, we want to go and at least make it one step further and leave our legacy as seniors as a winning program."
Horn is in this position because of its solid core of seniors and the maturation of the rest of the team. But if the Jaguars are going to continue on past this weekend, they understand that is a process that must continue to develop.
"I think it is going to come down to trust," Bratcher said. "This is the first year on the field together for a lot of us so I think if we can have trust in each other; that is the biggest thing. The talent is there, we just have to believe."
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