Softball power
O'Connor (Helotes) is at it again.
Wins on Thursday and Saturday over Holmes (San Antonio) and Warren (San Antonio) stretched the O'Connor winning streak to 20.
No defeats in more than eight weeks for O'Connor.
Anne Lewis, O'Connor
Photo by Lester Rosebrock
With the District 27-5A title assured and the playoffs on the horizon, a sixth state tournament appearance has to be on the minds of coach Anne Lewis and her Panthers, ranked as the area's top team by the San Antonio Express-News.
In recognition of O'Connor's two clutch come-from-behind wins in three days, Lewis was selected as the San Antonio High Yield Coach of the Week presented by Capital One Bank.
O'Connor (23-2, 14-0 in 27-5A) defeated Holmes 4-1 behind the two-hit pitching of senior
Kenedy Urbany on Thursday. But it wasn't easy. Holmes (17-8, 10-3), ranked No. 9 in the area, threatened in three of the first four innings. The most serious threat came in the third when Holmes loaded the bases, but failed to score.
Trailing 1-0 in the sixth, O'Connor scored a pair for its first lead. A walk to
Missy Garza with the bases loaded snapped a 1-1 tie.
O'Connor sealed it with two more runs in the seventh. Urbany buckled down and retired the final six batters.
Urbany had already decided the first meeting with Holmes earlier this season with a walk-off home run. Holmes returned most of its lineup from the team that lost to O'Connor in the Class 5A Region IV title game a year ago.
Urbany improved her record to 21-2 in Saturday's 2-1 triumph over Warren, this time allowing three hits.
"In some seasons, we've divided the pitching between two or three, but she has been a horse and done a great job,'' Lewis said.
Once again, O'Connor didn't go in front until the sixth inning, with the big hit this time coming from
Lesly Martinez.
"We've gotten lucky a few times in our winning streak,'' said Lewis, who has been the softball coach at O‘Connor since the school opened in 1998.
O'Connor kept alive another streak, this one for 44 consecutive district wins. The last league loss came in the 2011 season.
Urbany was one of the few holdovers from the 2012 state tournament team that went 31-3. Lewis began the season with a young and inexperienced lineup around her pitching star. O'Connor lost games in the Brenham tournament by two runs to Moody (Corpus Christi) and Clear Brook (Friendswood) on Feb. 14-15, the opening weekend of the season.
The Panthers haven't lost since.
Lewis has guided O'Connor to the state tournament five times, including each of the last two seasons.
"Our community is great,'' said Lewis. "It is very supportive, like you see in a small town. I think we have six on our staff at the school that have been there since the school opened.''
Lewis said the small-town atmosphere benefits O'Connor because middle school prospects come to watch the varsity team play. She is aware of the talent that is coming her way.
"Every year we try to adapt to the particular strengths of our players to give them a chance to be successful. We feel like each one of them has something to contribute,'' Lewis said. "We work hard.''
The Panthers were state finalists in 2003 and 2011 and lost in the state semifinal round in three other seasons.
As a head coach, Lewis' teams have accumulated 462 wins.
Originally from California, Lewis' family moved to San Antonio when she was in the ninth grade. She's never strayed too far.
"We have the ability this season to get to state,'' Lewis said. "We set our goals high every year.''
