Sports

National League: Games continue to be close and the standings. The final games on the two fields had comeback wins in the result.

League standings: Fighting Pharmers 2-0, Slapnut Magoos 2-1, Misfits 2-1, Chronic Offenders 2-1, DS Electric Shockers 1-1, UnWanted 1-1, Sunset Canyon Baptist 1-2, DS First Baptist 1-2, Hill Country Bible Church 0-3.

It was a very productive year for Dripping Springs sports. Many cheered the new district alignment and most certainly there are elements of it that provided the opportunity to have more success. However, in my opinion, I believe we have the quality in our athletic programs that we would have probably fared just as well in the old district. As has been noted before, reaching the top spot in the new district was not going to be any easier than the old one. The advantage in the new one was that one did not have to have a battle on their hands each week to get the needed wins to reach the playoff level of competition. Basically you got to start in the middle and work your way up. Probably the most important aspect was the level playing field of equal enrollment numbers. Of the 20 sports, Dripping Springs had five champions during the 2016-17 year. No reason to believe they will not improve on that in 2017-18. Below is a summary of the year.

AUSTIN — Dripping Springs’ postseason run came to an end Friday in its UIL 5A State Semifinal matchup against Willis.

LadyKats senior pitcher Casey Dixon kept the Tigers off balanced throughout the game. Meanwhile, Dripping Springs (35-9, 13-1 26-5A) allowed Willis (41-7, 13-3 20-5A) to score three runs in the opening inning en route to a 5-0 loss inside Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin. 

“It’s always disappointing when you lose, especially on this stage,” Tigers head coach Wade Womack said. “But if we’re going to lose, I guess you’d rather lose here in the state tournament.”

Dripping Springs can’t put its finger on what caused its rough start to Friday’s contest. Maybe it was nerves, or maybe it was nearly sold-out crowd of 1,079 split half in Dripping Springs maroon and half in Willis purple. Whatever the case, the LadyKats took advantage of back-to-back four pitch walks from Tiger ace pitcher Kiele Miller to begin the game.

Chris Payne went around and hugged his players Saturday evening.

Payne and his Dripping Springs Tigers were eliminated from the playoffs after a 2-0 loss to Corpus Christi Ray at Jourdanton Sports Complex. Despite the disappointing result, it was important for Payne to express to his team his gratitude for their performance this season.

 “They’re all like my own kids,” Payne said. “There’s a family atmosphere. There’s great chemistry between a lot of them. You know, a lot of these kids spend a lot of time with me. A lot of them are straight baseball kids and I have an opportunity to spend more time (with). I just love them and respect each and every one of them.”

 Senior shortstop/pitcher Reese Johnson said it came as no surprise that Payne made sure to hug each of Johnson's teammates after their season came to an end.

Jayci Goldsmith was able to add to the history of Dripping Springs sports when she became the 2017 5A state singles champion in tennis. This allowed tennis to join the club of Dripping Springs sports that have reached the state level of play. Tennis is one of the first UIL-sponsored sports and Dripping Springs has competed in the sport since, at least, the 1930's. They have turned out many district champions in all the categories but none were able to crack the regional ceiling for a state berth.

When a team has only one pitcher they can depend on and the other team is loaded with talent, coaches usually want to opt for the choice best suited for their chance to advance in the playoffs. The UIL allows each coach to get a chance at their choice. This was the situation when Dripping Springs was paired up with district rival Boerne Champion in the regional quarterfinals round of play. Boerne wanted a one-game playoff and DS the best of three. Boerne won the toss and the one game was played at San Marcos. The two had already met three times in district play with the Tigers winning two of three. That would make little difference as all the eggs would now be in one basket.

Kiele Miller took the entire regional semifinals series with Corpus Christi Carroll on her shoulders as she was majorly responsible for the 7-2 and 5-0 victories to advance to the regional finals against Richmond Foster, an 8-2 winner over Tuloso-Midway, to put them one step away from the state tourney. She would amass five rbis with her two homeruns in the first game and then toss a no-hitter in the second and struck out 29 batters in the two games. The Lady Tigers will take a 33-7 record to the game while Foster is 33-2.

Anytime the speedy Camille Corona is awarded a walk, it is like giving her a double or triple. CC Carroll made that mistake three times in the first game and it cost them three runs as she stole five bases. Carroll got on board first when back-to-back singles after two were out produced a run.

Dripping Springs High School (DSHS) is getting a new girls basketball head coach.  

David Norris, formerly the boys’ head basketball coach at San Marcos High School, will become the new girls’ head basketball at DSHS.

The move comes after Norris’ seventh season as the Rattlers’ head coach, where his team went 18-16 and lost to Pflugerville in the bi-district playoff round.

“It was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in a long time,” said Norris, who posted a 133-99 overall record and made the playoffs five of his seven years as San Marcos’ head coach. “I love the kids here. The basketball program from seventh grade on up, I felt like we had a lot of potential, a lot of good kids, good players coming through. So, it was very hard. Every night I was changing my mind. I couldn’t sleep and that hasn’t happened in a while.”

The Tigers don't mind doing it the hard way as long as it gets done. In the Area matchup with Victoria East in a best of three series, the Tigers traveled there but the pitchers found a tricky plate that continually moved on them and walked their way to a 6-3 loss. This meant they had to return to the friendly confines of Tiger field and win two. A friendlier wind than normal allowed them to crank up the bats and get an extra oomph out of them as the pitchers did their jobs. Grant Gaspard would get the big win as he handled the Titan bats and aided his cause with the bat as well in the 8-2 victory that sent the series to a third game. The third game ended up being a laugher as the Tigers took the 14-4 win in six. Now it is on to the quarterfinal round against district foe Boerne Champion.