The Gorman softball team won’t have to carry the burden of an undefeated record into the playoffs this season. The Lady Panthers lost three of four games in last weekend’s season-opening tournament in Abilene.
Gorman won its first 26 games last season before falling to Dodd City in the Region II-1A championship game. It marked the second time in three years for Gorman to fall to Dodd City in the game that determined which team qualified for the UIL Class 1A state tournament.
Nick Guthery had to talk girls into playing softball when he became the Gorman coach in 2011. Nine years later, his Lady Panthers are 25-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state entering the Class 1A regional semifinals.
“I have to admit. It feels a little awkward,” Guthery said after Gorman, No. 1 in Class 1A in the Texas Girls Coaches Association poll, beat No. 5 Perrin-Whitt 6-1 in Thursday’s regional quarterfinals. “We’ve been undefeated in district before, but we’ve never been this far along and not lost a game.
“We don’t see ourselves as undefeated. We just play it a game at a time and move on to the next one. Most people think I should be pumped up about being undefeated. And I am, but we don’t dwell on it because we know we can be beaten on any day.”
I can’t help but compare a playoff bracket to a horse race, with the bi-district round serving as the starting gate.
There are favorites, there are possible surprises and there are longshots. And in the end, picking who has the best chance of hitting the finish line at the state tournament is part knowledge and part luck — mostly luck.
At this track, I’m restricted to making Big Country choices — the area teams I believe have the best chance of getting to McCombs Field at the University of Texas in Austin from May 29-June 1.
Will a Big Country team have a shot when we get to the home stretch? We shall see.
Here’s my picks for the 2019 softball playoff run: