The back of Mineola assistant softball coach Jason Goodson’s shirt carried a message from Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work hard, as if serving the Lord and not men.” 

The Mineola Lady Jackets certainly had to work hard for their three-game, bi-district playoff win over the Redwater Lady Dragons last week, after dropping the first game.

Game one Thursday was a gem with starting pitchers – Mineola’s Jadelyn Marshall and Redwater’s Addison Bruner – providing ten innings of top quality pitching. Redwater won the game in the 10th, 2-1.

So the Lady Jackets had it all to work for Saturday. Once again the game matched Marshall and Bruner. Neither disappointed as each went the distance. The batters for each side, however, began to hone in on the opposing starters. 

Marshall gave up six hits while the Yellowjackets tagged Bruner for seven. 

Redwater put up two runs in the first with a two-out rally. Back to back doubles and an RBI single did the damage. Mineola ended the rally when catcher Jaycee Smith threw out a runner at second base. 

Mineola answered with a run in the second. Journie Wilson – who had six base hits in seven plate appearances in the two games on Saturday – singled to right field. She scored when Marshall slapped a single to right.

Marshall put the Lady Dragons down in order to close the second, and Mineola went back to work at the plate. Caroline Castleberry opened the inning by stroking a single up the middle. Kaitlyn McMahon followed with a beauty of a bunt and reached on a throwing error. With runners at second and third, Jaycee Smith laid down a perfect bunt. She was thrown out at first, but one run scored. 

Wilson stepped back into the box. Down in the count 0-2, she ripped a double to centerfield, scoring McMahon. Wilson scored when the Redwater first and second basemen collided trying to field an easy infield pop-up. Mineola had taken a 4-2 lead, the final margin. 

Marshall and the Lady Jacket defense stymied the Lady Dragons for the remainder of the game, allowing just four baserunners in the last five innings. The defensive play of the game came in the bottom of the sixth. Redwater had a runner on first with one away. Mineola first baseman Wilson speared a line drive on a short hop, stepped on first and rifled a throw to second. McMahon covered the bag from her shortstop position and completed the double play. 

The Lady Jackets evened the series with a determined focus and near error-free ball.       

After a brief respite, the teams took the field for the deciding game. 

Wilson started in the circle for the Lady Jackets, while Bruner soldiered on for Redwater. 

Redwater welcomed Wilson by tagging her for a three-run home run in the first. Mineola answered in the bottom half with two runs from a Mahayla McMahon RBI single and a Wilson sacrifice fly.

In the top of the third, Redwater added two runs with a 2-RBI double off the wall in left. The Lady Jackets came to bat in the third trailing 5-3. 

The Redwater hurler, Bruner, was spent. She had thrown into extra innings on Thursday night, and had just thrown seven full innings. While her moxie was admirable, the Lady Jackets were beginning to track her pitches. 

Mineola put up five runs in the bottom of the third. They strung together three free passes and four base hits (singles by Kaitlyn McMahon and Wilson, an infield hit by Maddie Short and a 2-RBI double by Marshall). 

The play which seemed to claim the series came when Kaitlyn McMahon stole home while the Lady Dragons were overly invested in a close play at first base. That play was the result of McMahon’s aggressive base running and an excellently-placed bunt by Smith. 

Junior Mycah Morman relieved Wilson in the fourth and put the Lady Dragons down in order in the final three innings. She mixed excellent control with placement to render five ground ball outs and four strike-outs.   

Mineola chased an exhausted Bruner from the game in the fourth. Castleberry led off with a triple and scored on a Kaitlyn McMahon sacrifice fly. Following a Smith double to the left-center gap, Wilson hammered a ball over the left field fence for a two-run round-tripper for an 11-5 lead.

Mineola rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to close out the game on the 10-run rule  and claim the series. 

The Jackets next face the New Diana Lady Eagles at Tyler Legacy Field. Game one is set for Friday at 8 p.m. and games two and three Saturday at 4 and 6 p.m.