Trailing 4-0 after five innings the Friday night before spring break, the varsity softball team rallied to score two in the top of the sixth and two in the top of the seventh to tie their archrivals heading into the final half inning.

Unfortunately, the Raptors (5-0) were able to squeeze across an unearned run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off win that gives them a one game lead over the Knights (4-1) in the district standings.

There is no way to sugarcoat it: the ending stinks if you are a Knights’ fan, but despite the tough loss, the varsity came away from the game with much to be proud of and much to look forward to.

“It was definitely a hard loss after how close we were to winning,” sophomore center fielder Lila Brotherton said, “but I think we took it as something to grow from and take into practice in the next few weeks.”

Her teammate, freshman starting pitcher Natalie Myrick, agreed.

“I think there are positives from any game,” she said. “It was hard to watch LASA celebrate, especially after such an intense and close game, but overall I was really happy with how we were able to keep LASA from scoring for multiple innings. and the way we were able to come back and put some runs on the board at the end of the game shows a lot about our team.”

Both Brotherton and Myrick shone in the loss.

Myrick not only doubled off LASA ace Rose Harrelson and scored in the top of the sixth, but she battled Harrelson pitch for pitch over seven innings as both threw complete games with double-digit strikeouts.

Myrick pitched 6 ⅔ innings striking out 11 and walking only one while giving up no earned runs in the game.

“Natalie is an amazing pitcher,” Brotherton said of Myrick’s performance, “and she did a really good job at that game.”

When asked to assess her own performance, Myrick admitted she was proud of her effort. Surprisingly, she did not mention the 11 K’s.

“I think I did a pretty good job at feeding the defense field-able hits, and I think I did a good job at keeping my composure when things didn’t go as planned.”

Myrick said strikeouts are great, but that a pitcher needs to accept that strikeouts aren’t always possible and that sometimes it’s better to throw a strike that is hit poorly instead of one that isn’t hit at all.

“I try my best to put enough spin on the ball, so that if a hitter gets a hold of a pitch, the spin will make it a ‘fieldable’ ground ball or a miss-hit pop up rather than a hard line drive or potentially a home run.”

From this perspective perhaps the most impressive stat from Myrick’s outing then is that she only allowed four hits.

“She is definitely a very confident and controlled pitcher,” Brotherton said of her teammate. “I think she is very well respected as a tough opponent.”

The same can be said for Harrelson, who went the full seven innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while walking three and striking out 17. For both Myrick and Brotherton, going toe to toe with an opponent as tough and well-regarded as Harrelson made their individual successes in the game at the plate and on the mound more meaningful.

“One part of the game I really enjoyed was striking [Harrelson] out,” Myrick said. “I have known Rose and her sister Esther, who is now LASA’s catcher, for many many years and we have played together for a long time, so playing against each other was super fun.”

Mryick plays club softball for Texas Glory, and she and Esther Harrelson are teammates and have been on various club teams together since 10U. Rose is a year older than Myrick, so the only time she and Myrick play on the same field is when they face each other on their opposing high school teams.

Brotherton plays club softball for Texas United 16U. Like Myrick, Brotherton has never faced Harrelson in club play, but from seeing her on the circuit often she knows what a quality pitcher she is and therefore viewed her at-bats as personal challenges against a worthy foe.

“I was really excited to hit against LASA’s pitcher this year,” Brotherton said. “A lot of people know of Rose Harrelson and that she is a great pitcher. I faced her twice last year, so I was just really happy to be able to hit off of her again this year, and I think facing fast pitchers can be really exciting.”

Last year, Harrelson struck out Brotherton in her first plate appearance in both Knight-Raptor games, but each time, Brotherton rallied to avenge the strikeout with a base hit in her next at-bat. Facing her again on Friday, Brotherton got two base hits, the only Knight in the game with multiple hits.

“I really enjoy seeing a faster pitcher,” Brotherton said, “just because of the adrenaline rush I get while facing them and I enjoy the challenge.”

Despite focusing on her pitching, Myrick got the only extra-base hit off of Harrelson, and she and Brotherton came around to score to make it 4-2 in the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, the Knights tied the score thanks to a Zara Cacci line-drive single to right, a Sadie Roselle bunt and a Raptor throwing error that brought home two runs.

Still alive in the inning, the Knights had the bases loaded with two outs, but couldn’t push any more runs across to take a lead. Myrick pitched well enough to get the Knights out of the bottom half of the inning but a two-out error—the Knights’ fifth in the game—allowed the winning unearned run to end the game.

While the loss was disappointing, both Brotherton and Myrick see it as an opportunity to learn and grow toward the challenges that await them, including a rematch with the same Raptors on April 5.

“One of the biggest things holding us back from winning were some of the errors we had and also just not starting the game out with the same energy we finished it with,” Brotherton said. “But I believe this game will make us better and push us to work harder in practice. … I think our team is just going to get better. We are all looking forward to playing both Crockett and LASA again, and I believe we will be prepared to take them on and maybe get a few more good hits.”