Like mighty giants, Santa Gertrudis Academy High School’s varsity softball team has fee-fi-fo-fummed through adversaries this season en route to a seventh overall state ranking. The Lions have swung their mighty clubs while their pitchers dominate from the hilltop.

With a 15-3 overall record, the Lions are 8-0 in District 32-A where their three most recent wins came at the expense of Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco 14-0 this past Tuesday, and a pair of 17-0 three inning shellackings over Corpus Christi College Preparatory the previous Friday. Prior league victories have been over Ben Bolt (15-0), Benavides (17-1), La Villa (16-5) and San Perlita (17-2, 20-0).

Teeing off on opposing pitchers this season are Miranda Gonzalez (five homeruns), Carla Noel (3), Danielle Gonzalez (3), Ashley Ritter (3), Ashley Perez (3), and Maranda Gonzalez (1).

Most of the team’s batting averages this season range from 0.429 to 0.658; Academy is hitting 0.493 overall.

“We practice a lot with hitting, we go through plenty of repetitions at the batting stations and the girls are getting a good beat on the ball,” Head Coach Olinda Salazar said. “The pitchers we have faced have been pretty good and there are three teams in our district who are talented but we have still managed to hit them. It may take us some time to adjust to some pitchers but the girls find a way.”

On the mound, Noel has been Academy’s big gun this season with a 0.54 earned run average, 117 strikeouts and an 11-2 overall record. Backing her up are Ashley Flores (11 strikeouts) and Ashley Perez (15), both of whom are 2-0 this season.

“Carla is a freshman this year and has a phenomenal record,” Salazar said. “Not only can she throw fast but she also has a lot of movement on the ball. She got hurt earlier this season and was out for about a week, but I had my other two pitchers step up and they did real well firing the ball in there.”

Last year’s playoff trek has Academy wanting more this season while the seventh ranked Lions are now both the hunters and the hunted.

“We won area for the first time in school history last season but were eliminated in the regional round by Woodsboro,” Salazar said. “That experience has made us hungrier to get to the next level, they wanted it so badly last year and realized they could have beaten Woodsboro but we were just so excited to be there. I know rankings can be kind of funky but we are still proud of that and know we have to step it up because we have a big target on us.”