They make up the Honors Class of 2008--the Llano Lady Jackets’ softball nine has traveled the mythical journey to the All-District Team for 25-3A. It was well-deserved recognition for a bunch which made the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

The Pitcher-of-the-Year is Cierra Thompson, who showed she could fire the smaller, yellow ball with as much talent as she could the bigger, brown one. Thompson struck out 92 batters in her final 57 innings in the circle, and she tossed two no-hitters. In the postseason, she allowed six hits and didn’t walk anyone in two games.

“I’m really flattered to win this award,” Cierra noted. “I didn’t expect to get it, but I was real glad to be part of a good year.”

“Phenomenal” is the word head coach Brian Cottle liked to use on Tuesday and Friday nights this spring. “She’s an amazing athlete,” he noted. “It doesn’t matter what Cierra wants to do, she can do it.”

Junior Chelsea Montgomery was named Defensive-Player-of-the-Year. The shortstop made three errors in more than two dozen games this season; that brought her handsome, three-year total all the way up to five. If only the cost of oil could seek such a low tally.

“I think I improved with my accuracy on my throws to first, and I was a little quicker this year,” Montgomery pointed out. “It’s a great honor given to me, because our team has a lot of fine defensive players, and there are others in the district.”

Next time you watch a softball game, keep in mind: the infielder has to get the ground ball to first before a batter runs 60 feet, not 90, like it is in baseball. Some say,”It’s the hard-ball game, which moves in slow motion.”

Jordana Miiller was the top defensive player in 25-3A in 2007, but she gave up third base to put on more equipment--Jordana became the Jackets’ catcher. One thing was certain--she wasn’t going to repeat any mistakes from the past. She had never caught before.

“We were riding in the bus to Bandera, March 20,” Cottle recalled, “and I just had a whim that maybe Miiller could catch for us. I asked her, and she said, ‘Yes.’ I then said, ‘well, go find a mask.’”

In her first appearance, the Woman with the Mask looked like she’d been wearing a big glove as long as Robert Horry has been wearing sneakers.

She led the team with 30 hits--eight in a row late in the campaign. Miiller, who also was first on the team in RBIs, was an easy choice for First-Team, All-District.

Emily Schendel was another automatic. The left fielder-turned-center fielder, the toughest marble in the pouch, pounded twelve doubles in ‘08. She batted .328 and drove in a rather sizeable 17 runs for someone hitting in the second half of the order.

“She was just tremendous,” Cottle declared, “as she overcame back and hip problems. Emily is one who fights and fights and fights and displays the kind of desire you love to see.”

In the classic, 5-4, win over Wimberley, March 25, Schendel had two of those dozen doubles and drove in two runs. “The energy we felt that night was amazing,” she told reporters. It was indeed, and Emily was a major reason for the feeling, that night, and so many others, in her four years of varsity play.

Leslie Weihs “came out of nowhere,” Cottle remembered. “She took the field as a sophomore and wound up playing first, second, left field and right. She can do it all.”

Weihs batted a robust .440 and took her spot on All-District. She was a dandy defensive player who ruined many foes’ nights with her wide range toward center or to the line in right to turn extra bases into an extra out.

She has been quoted previously in The Llano News as saying, “Softball is what I’ll always remember about high school. I’ve lived for this.”

Senior Lauryn Looney and sophomores Danielle Delz and Katie Yeager were named to the 25-3A, All-District second team. Kelsie Simpson, the soph who clubbed the game-winning hit in the seventh inning in that victory over the Lady Texans, received honorable mention.

“We’ve had a heck of a run,” Cottle says with pride and proof: three straight years in the playoffs, the first-ever district championship and first playoff win. “For the girls to improve the way they have throughout their careers, or for the younger ones, this season, shows great attitude and dedication. You can’t take anything away from ‘em.”