It was your classic softball battle: a pitcher’s duel--a dandy display by a dazzling duo with deliveries of defiance. Kailyn Miller of Devine was just that, and her two-hitter was a stitch-on-the-ball better than Cierra Thompson, who also allowed a pair of Arabians to hit safely.

Both Devine batters who got on scored, and that was the offense in a 2-0 win over Llano in the area round of the playoffs. It was a one-game series, May 2, at Schreiner University in Kerrville.

“She’s a quality pitcher,” Jackets’ head coach Brian Cottle said of Miller. “She used both a rise ball and drop ball, and that herky-jerky motion of hers hurt us.”

All softball pitchers seem to go into such twists and turns you wouldn’t think they could raise their hand in class for a week, but Miller’s wind-up was a step beyond normal, which made her a near-unhittable challenge. “I wasn’t ready for the hippity-hoppity movement,” centerfielder Emily Schendel admitted.

Cierra? Oh, sorry, didn’t see you standing there. She was sensational in her final pitch for greatness in Black and Orange athletics. She struck out eight in the first four innings and permitted just one Arabian to reach base--on an error.

“She did a heck of a job,” fellow senior Leslie Weihs said about number three. “Wow, how does Thompson do that?” Cottle asked his interviewer.

Trouble began in the fifth when Kim Hanson led off with a blast to the centerfield fence. It was a double; she raced for third on a ground out, and on that play, first baseman Katie Yeager threw across the diamond in hopes of cutting her down.

Third baseman Danielle Delz was blinded by the early-evening sun, which was staring at the developments in general and Delz in particular. The ball got away, and Hanson scored.

That was plenty for Miller who fanned 15; no Jacket advanced past second base. “Our bats simply weren’t there,” Weihs explained. “Sometimes your mental approach just does not follow you to the plate.”

Thompson, the best pitcher in district 25-3A, struck out a dozen, retired the side in order four times and faced just 24 batters, three over the minimum. (CT didn’t walk a batter in 14 innings in the circle during this postseason.) Miller had the last word, though--a Top-Gun-like home run over the fence in left in the seventh inning.

The Last Outs: “Softball is what I’ll always remember about high school,” the emotional Weihs said with emotions apparent. “This is what you live for...but...you take a day to grieve, then you move on.”

“It’s lousy,” Schendel conceded with candor, “but we had a great ride, a fun time.” Emily and her fellow seniors: Weihs, Thompson, Jordana Miiller, Lauryn Looney, Blair Schorck, and Monica Bigger, helped the Jackets reach the playoffs three consecutive years.

In 2007, Llano won its first-ever district title and captured a playoff game for the first time.

Oh, One More Thing: “I don’t think coach Cottle gets enough praise,” Weihs said before boarding the bus for the last time. “He’s a very intense man who makes you work hard and love the game.”

“I’m not going to miss them, because I’ll never forget them,” Cottle declares about the soon-to-be graduates. “They possessed great attitude and work ethic; the girls may be lacking in some areas, but they don’t lack in heart.”