A&M softball coach Trisha Ford's voice quivered as she talked while seniors Rylen Wiggins and Trinity Cannon fought back tears. Ford did her best trying to put into perspective what transpired in the last three days, knowing it was virtually impossible as she relived in her mind the blood, sweat and happy tears that had been put in by so many to get the team to that point. You wouldn't have expected anything less from Ford and her players if you had watched A&M's titanic best-of-3 super regional series against Texas.
It was 23 innings of spectacular softball with seemingly every play riding on who would advance to the Women's College World Series with the top-seeded Longhorns getting the best of their rival by the slimmest of margins. A&M gave everything it had and then some. It often seemed the Aggies were destined to win.
A&M took the fight to UT from the get-go. Cannon's threerun homer in the first inning of Friday's opener set the bar. Mya Perez's three run shot to tie Saturday's game at eight on a two-strike pitch with two outs in the seventh inning is the kind of stuff that results in a championship.
Just when it seemed the season had struck an ugly midnight with A&M about to suffer a rather hollow 6-2 season-ending loss, Julia Cottrill hit a mammoth threerun homer in the seventh. The Aggies were alive. They were thriving after two batters walked, putting the tying run in scoring position, but the dream weekend died.
Pinch-hitter Amari Harper struck out. It was arguably.