GAMES
RANKINGS
Foster opened the playoffs with a 16-0 win over Milby on Wednesday, improving to 29-6.
Foster routs Milby to open playoffs, eyes area round challenge
RICHMOND—Foster’s softball program has plenty of tradition.
The Falcons have made the playoffs every season since the school opened in 2003. They were state finalists in 2018.
This season, Foster yearns to get back to the standard of lengthy playoff runs. The Falcons have not been past the area round since that 2018 season, and that is goal No. 1.
Wednesday was a fine start in the right direction.
Foster opened the postseason routing an outmatched Milby team, 16-0, in three innings at Foster High School to win its Class 5A bi-district playoff. Twelve runs on 10 hits in the second inning was more than enough.
Foster, ranked No. 18 in Class 5A in the state and No. 6 in the Greater Houston area, improved to 29-6.
“Going in, we’re obviously thinking we need to push ourselves,” said senior Ripley Welker, who went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer. “Every single one of us thinks we’re capable of going far. We haven’t been past the second round since my eighth-grade year, and I really think this year we have a lot of potential to see that through.”
Ripley Welker again. This one, a two-run bomb. @Foster_Softballpic.twitter.com/iHucByS4fa— Dennis Silva II (@Dennis Silva II) 1651104900
The Falcons will likely get defending state champ Barbers Hill in the area round next week. The Eagles, ranked No. 3 in the state, play Manvel in their bi-district matchup this week.
Barbers Hill eliminated Foster in the 2019 bi-district playoffs. The 2020 season was abruptly canceled because of the coronavirus. Crosby beat Foster 2-1 in a best-of-three area series last season.
“Just knowing that everyone is beatable, and anyone can win on any given day,” Foster coach Keely Shuler said. “Barbers Hill has a great program, and not getting that hype in our heads that it’s Barbers Hill will be important. We are Foster. We know we can show up and compete with any of the top programs, so keeping that mentality and staying confident at the plate will be key.”
Foster returned more than 10 players from last year’s team. As a result, it’s a more experienced and resilient club.
“It’s a different type of maturity level,” said junior Mickayla Tosch, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs against Milby, including a two-run home run. “We’ve been in this situation before. We have a lot of returners. We’re a lot more mature than we were last year.”
.@MickaylaTosch RBI 2B. @Foster_Softballpic.twitter.com/oYP7RwZNrt— Dennis Silva II (@Dennis Silva II) 1651103182
Shuler said she has a very supportive team. The bond and chemistry have been significant to the Falcons’ success. Welker said the team knows how good it is and knows what it has to do to get over the area round hump.
“What we need to do is adjust early to the pitcher and stay focused,” Welker said. “We really need to believe in ourselves. Stay positive and lift each other up. Last year, I think we were complacent and didn’t really push ourselves. We weren’t expecting it.”
Foster has the bats and pitching to be a potent team. The Falcons had 15 hits in two innings against Milby. No one struck out. Foster pitching, led by senior Peyton Welker, struck out six Milby batters and surrendered two baserunners in three innings.
“This builds our confidence,” Tosch said of the win. “We know we can play. We just have to play at our level.”
SUPERSTAR "UNDERDOG": Foster's McDowell Looks To Build Off Freshman Year
AS A SIX-YEAR-OLD, ELLA MCDOWELL HURT THE FEELINGS OF DADS IN THE YOUTH BASEBALL LEAGUE SHE PLAYED IN. ENOUGH TO WHERE, AFTER TWO YEARS, SHE WAS TOLD SHE COULDN’ T PLAY WITH THEM ANYMORE.
“I hit the ball hard. I smoked that little baseball,” said McDowell, now a sophomore at Foster. “That’s why dads didn’t like me. I’d hurt their kids because they didn’t know how to field it. But baseball taught me to prove everyone wrong. You have to have a drive inside of you, and I have that. That’s what baseball helped me with.”
After reluctantly transitioning from baseball to softball, McDowell’s desire and persistence brought her to where she is now, ranked No. 3 in Extra Innings’ Class of 2024 national rankings and No. 1 at her middle infield position.
Playing shortstop and hitting cleanup, McDowell enjoyed a phenomenal freshman campaign for the Falcons last year, hitting .541 with a .605 on-base percentage, 61 RBIs, 17 home runs, and a .978 fielding percentage. She draws raves for her high IQ, grit, speed and power.
McDowell has it all. “I just go out there and have fun,” she said. “I’m not trying to live up to the hype. As long as I’m happy with how I’m playing, I feel that’s all that matters to me.
“I’m a really happy person. I may be getting noticed and have these accolades, but I’m still the same person, having fun, smiling from ear to ear on that field. I love this game.”
McDowell has such confidence that it can be misconstrued as cockiness. But even she admits she was shocked by last year’s production.
“I had never hit that many home runs in my life,” she said. “It was crazy.”
Her power has been evident ever since she was slugging pitches from overmatched boys years ago.
McDowell credited her power prowess last season to being relaxed in the box and not overthinking.
“Breathe,” McDowell said. “See ball, hit ball. Have fun.”
Even when teams adjusted to the way they pitched her—McDowell said she did not see an inside pitch after the first couple of games—she made the proper adjustments and learned to take what was given to her.
“It came down to pitch selection,” McDowell said. “Being patient at the plate. It’s really hard, because I want to swing at everything, but you’ve just got to wait sometimes. Find the right one.”
McDowell wants to get to at least the third round of the playoffs this season, somewhere the program has never been. She wants it for the seniors. Personally, she wants to live up to what she did last season, if not better it.
Prove that last year was no fluke.
“There’s definitely pressure,” McDowell said. “Eyes on you at all times, seeing what your next move is, how you perform. I’ve just got to keep it under control. There’s no bigger pressure than the pressure I put on myself. I just keep working.
“I’m still the underdog, in my eyes. I still want to be the best. Obviously, the best softball player, but also the best friend on the field, the best teammate in the dugout, the best kid our coach has ever coached.