Gig Em Gazette
Fansided

A new fan remembers the 2017 Texas A&M softball season

By John Tee

Aug 3, 2016; Huntington Beach, CA, USA; OC Batbusters player Mallory McCrane dives back into third on an attempted pick off against the Birmingham Thunderbolts at Huntington Beach Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 3, 2016; Huntington Beach, CA, USA; OC Batbusters player Mallory McCrane dives back into third on an attempted pick off against the Birmingham Thunderbolts at Huntington Beach Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next

The College World Series and closing thoughts

Tragedy struck when pitcher Trinity Harrington lost her father to cancer. Harrington was able to spend a few moments with her father before he passed away. Understandably she did not play during the regional. She did, however, come back to pitch for the super regional and managed to pitch the team to the Women’s College World Series. I’d be confident in saying that this is probably the biggest story of the year for Texas A&M Athletics, and I’m trying not to get teary-eyed just thinking about it.

More from Gig Em Gazette

Unfortunately, the Women’s College World Series itself didn’t exactly go as planned. The Aggies were run-ruled by Florida 8-0 and then got eliminated by UCLA 8-2. That’s definitely not the ending we all wanted, but sometimes you just get beat. But it wasn’t without a silver lining. Celena Massey managed to hit a home run during her first at-bat in her first WCWS. Even if it came in a one-sided loss, that’s still something.

Only eight teams that make it to the Women’s College World Series. Stepping onto the field in Oklahoma City is an accomplishment in itself. Even though they were the first out, the Aggies were still at the very top of the pecking order. In a conference like the SEC, that’s no small feat. Finally, this was their first WCWS appearance since 2008, and they did it without a single senior starter. Let that sink in. This is a young team and it will only get better.

A season to remember

Finally, this season will be unforgettable to me for several reasons. There were several Sports Center Top 10-worthy plays that went viral. Most recently when Keeli Milligan was hit by a pitch in the face. She shrugged it off like nothing to start the rally that forced Game 3 against Tennessee. Keeli, seriously you’re my hero for that. Watching Coach Jo Evans give her speeches during and after the super regional gives me chills. She is a coach whom I’d go to war for. The passion, the energy and the never-say-die mentality she inspires is just amazing, and I am regretting only following the Aggie Softball team now.

Next: Predicting every game of the 2017 Football season

In short, even though the season didn’t quite end the way we wanted it to, it was still an incredible run and we should still be proud of what our ladies accomplished.

**stats from 12thman.com, seccountry.com and ncaa.com**