DRAWING DIAMOND DISTINCTIONS

After earning second straight trip to playoffs, Clifton Lady Cub softball places Gaona, Rodriguez on All-District 17-3A, first team, three second-teamers, four honorable mentions

After leading the Clifton Lady Cubs to their second straight Class 3A softball postseason appearance, senior pitching ace Laylah Gaona and senior leading hitter Amy Rodriguez earned All-District 17-3A first-team honors when selections were announced following the UIL Softball State Tournament May 28-June 1 at Red and Charlie McCombs Field at the University of Texas in Austin.

Senior Alyssa Santillan, freshman Natalia Gaona and junior Delilah Martinez were named to the all-district second team, while senior Dixie Mayfield, sophomore Addison Martin, freshman Pepper Mayfield and freshman Grace Gouldman drew honorable mention recognition.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of a team, as I have been this entire season,” Clifton softball head coach Tim Vannatta said. “Every one of these young ladies have grown in more ways than the game of softball. We are losing a group of wonderful seniors, both on the field and off.”

Following the all-district announcement, the Lady Cubs will officially bid farewell to five seniors – Alyssa Santillan, Amy Rodriguez, Dixie Mayfield, Laylah Gaona and Megan Henderson. But at the same time, Clifton will have seven players with varsity experience returning for the 2025 campaign.

“But I’m also looking forward to the core kids we have coming back next year. The more we go through the failures of closing out an opponent, the stronger we become, both individually, and most importantly, as a team.”

Despite carrying a four-game losing streak into the 2024 Texas high school softball regular season finale, the Lady Cubs kept the dream of achieving back-to-back playoff appearances alive in a must-win 7-3 victory Maypearl behind a clutch performance from the circle by Gaona.

“The ladies played a very complete game against Maypearl,” Vannatta said. “Laylah pitched her best game of the year. And defensively, we were pretty much error free. We jumped out to a lead, and we were in control of the outcome throughout the contest. We used the entire roster, it was truly a team win.”

As the fourth-place finisher in District 17-3A, the Lady Cubs (9-13 overall) faced District 18-3A champion and 20th-ranked Blooming Grove Lady Lions (23-8) in a best-of-three game Bi-District playoff series, losing in a two-game sweep.

Despite losing Game 1, 7-0, in convincing fashion, the Lady Cubs refused to accept defeat in Game 2 at the Itasca Sports Complex after seeing the series postponed due to inclement weather.

Clifton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as senior Laylah Gaona opened the game with a single and Natalia Gaona followed with a walk before senior Dixie Mayfield and Martin delivered back-to-back singles.

The Lady Lions responded with two runs in the second and three more in the third to build a 5-2 lead, but the Lady Cubs battled back by scoring three runs of their own in the fourth before taking a 7-5 lead in the fifth.

But Blooming Grove cut Clifton’s lead in half with a run in the sixth before scoring three unanswered runs in the seventh to close out the playoff series with a 9-7 victory. Laylah Gaona, Natalia Gaona and Dixie Mayfield reached base safely three times each in the losing effort for the Lady Cubs.

“In Game 2, we didn’t play like a fourth-place team by taking the lead into the seventh inning,” Vannatta said. “We just have not been able to close out tight games against good teams. But it’s not because of a lack of effort or the belief we have in one another.”

As the District 17-3A champions, state-ranked Grandview (32-4) advanced to the Class 3A State Tournament, defeated Hallettsville (40-3), 11-2, in the state semifinal before falling to Coahoma (32-0), 3-2, in eight innings in the state championship game.