If you are still practicing this time of year, it means you are enjoying a special season.
And for Calallen and Flour Bluff, one of these teams will advance to next week’s state softball tournament in Austin. Last night, we checked in on the Hornets. Tonight, we zero in on the Lady Cats.
One of the aspects Calallen coach Teresa Lentz and her coaching staff have done so well this year is teaching their kids to adjust at the plate.
Take Lizzete Del Angel for example. She is able to show bunt, shorten her swing and still hit for power.
And in this case, it’s a home run. She has 10 homers this season.
Now, the Cats obviously will not always show bunt.
“I think just showing bunt and coming back makes sure my hands are on top and drop them so I don’t pop up and I can hit the ball more solid,” Del Angel said. “I use it sometimes when I want to improve my timing or make sure I keep my hands on top so that’s when I usually go to the short swing.”
Lentz says a compact stroke sometimes is the best one to produce contact.
“I mean you could go into philosophies of hitting but you definitely want to say on plane as long as possible to create as much range, and the more range you have the more likely you will make contact and get a hit,” she said. “Sometimes, your best swing is when you are not trying to do too much. You just want to stay short to the ball which means being quicker and that will generate power.”
The Lady Cats have lost twice to the Lady Hornets this year. And coming up later tonight on KRIS 6 Sports at 10 p.m., we’ll get Coach Lentz’s take on what it will take to make this a successful series for them.
H.S. SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
5A REGIONAL FINALS
CALALLEN VS. FLOUR BLUFF
GAME 1 WEDNESDAY 7 p.m.
GAME 2 THURSDAY 7 p.m.
GAME 3 SATURDAY 10 a.m. (IF NECESSARY)
All games will be played at Cabaniss Field.
