By GARY STALLARD

AC Athletics

            OXFORD, ALABAMA – The team beat so many odds just to get to there, it just didn’t seem fair to stack a few more against them.

            The 2023 Angelina College Lady Roadrunners, who qualified for the NJCAA Division I World Series despite having just 13 players on the roster, finally saw their incredible season come to an end with a 6-4 loss to Kaskaskia College in Thursday’s third round action in Oxford, Alabama.

            Down a key player following a questionable ejection during Wednesday’s win over Eastern Arizona, AC’s patchwork lineup fell behind early, with the Blue Angels jumping out to a 6-1 lead by the fourth inning.

            But like they have all season, the Lady ‘Runners kept swinging. Skyler Martin blasted a solo homer in the second inning, Hailey Fuentes scored ahead of Kaetlyn Dunbar’s single in the fifth and the Lady ‘Runners entered their final at-bat trailing 6-2.

            AC put together another threat in the seventh, with Martin doubling home Dunbar and scoring on an error after a Haley Primrose hard ground ball to cut the Kaskaskia lead to two runs at 6-4. Even the final out caused the Lady ‘Runner fans to suck in a deep breath: Alyssa Collazo launched a deep fly ball to center that fell just short of a game-tying homer.

            With the loss, the Lady Roadrunners end their season with a 27-23 record, the program’s third appearance in the NJCAA World Series and a Coach of the Year Award for first-year head coach Brette Kohring.

            Lady ‘Runner sophomores playing in their final game on Thursday included Hailey Fuentes, Alyssa Collazo, Madi Baker, Mia Gilmore, Lace Tangianau, Morgan Louviere, Bailey Frenzel, Haley Primrose and Gianna Wade.

            The email address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.