Baseball to face Lone Star in regional quarterfinal

Austin Keefer, Staff Writer • May 16, 2019

After a decisive sweep of Highland Park at Globe Life Park last weekend, the Leopards will now be headed to John Paul II High School in Plano for the regional quarterfinals against Lone Star.

“I feel like the competition’s really strong,” sophomore Josh Ringler said. “They do have a lot of guys on the mound that can throw hard, but I think we can handle them. Tonight’s gonna be our hardest matchup, because they have a guy throwing harder than usual, but tomorrow and the next game, I think we got them.”

Lone Star finished second in their district with a 13-5 record and swept Denison in the bi-district round and Wilson in area to advance to regionals.

Senior Cade Smitherman highlighted that Lone Star’s pitching will be the Leopards’ biggest challenge.

“They’re pretty solid,” Smitherman said. “They’ve got a pitcher coming on tonight that’s pitched pretty well, but we’ve hit really good pitching, so I think if we just get deep in counts, we’ll do really well.”

If the Leopards are victorious, they will face the winner of the other quarterfinal, either Joshua or Corsicana, in the regional semifinal next week on May 25.

About the Contributors

Austin Keefer, Staff Writer

Running on all caffeine and no sleep, Austin Keefer is 17 years young and in his senior year of high school, as well as his third year on The Red Ledger staff. In those three years, he has interviewed everyone from coaches to cops to Congressional candidates. He enjoys his role as the instigator and blood-boiler, a role that spans eight periods of school and beyond. Yeah, he’s that guy, with jokes and one-liners that range from witty to dirty and are found funny by few besides himself. He also prides himself on his old-school tastes, preferring fedoras to dye, talking to texting, and cards to Fort Night or whatever the heck it’s called. This third year coincides with his third year of acting in the school’s Theatre program, where he’s portrayed everyone from pirates to detectives to (gulp) Nazis. Now there are a few photo ops that are best kept buried….

Shae Daugherty, Section Editor

It’s Daug·herty, /Dortee/, Daugherty. It’s not that hard. Coaches never get it wrong, and that may have been what drove her to sports photography in the first place. When she isn’t leaving sticky notes all over the newsroom, she’s in the heart of the sideline with a few cameras and a small bag of SD cards. She spends nearly all her time with the Sideline Team, causing trouble or residing in the studio. Her favorite part of football season is the two hours before any game, when the photographers go to dinner, or at least they try to. Shae’s sustained many injuries during her five year run as a sports photographer due to her inability to see players charging at her. Ironically, the Photo Editor is legally blind, and will crack numerous blind jokes, at the disapproval of one Benjamin Nopper. Her goal this year is for The Red Ledger to finally win the Pacemaker, and nothing will stand in her way. Coming in right at 5’10”, she certainly doesn’t need heels, but she wouldn’t be caught dead without them. Let her leave you with this one piece of advice–keep your heels, head and standards high.