It was a fairly calm and cool game for the Grand Oaks Grizzlies. Up until the final inning.
The Grizzlies took a three-run lead into the top of the seventh before College Park made things interesting.
With a run on the board, the bases loaded and one out, the Cavaliers were thinking about extending the game. The Grizzlies were thinking, ‘end it’.
With freshman Victoria Herndandez trying to close out the complete game in the circle, Alaina Casteneda lofted a ball to right field where Kiley Milligan caught it and threw a rifle home to catch a Cavaliers runner trying to score. Mayce Burkett made the tag at the plate and celebration was on as Grand Oaks prevailed 3-1.
Grand Oaks (13-2, 3-0) hadn’t beaten College Park (8-8, 0-3) since 2023.
“It was amazing, oh my god,” Burkett, the junior Kentucky commit, said. “Great job by Kiley. It was game over. I knew she would get the runner out.”
Grand Oaks coach Paula Miller celebrated a little too hard as she twisted an ankle in foul territory down the third-base line after the final out.
It took a few minutes for her to be helped to her feet and she was in relatively good spirits, considering the pain she was in.
Center fielder Ava Butler caught a ball and got it to the infield for one out to keep the bases loaded.
College Park leadoff hitter Bella Dzialo drew a bases-loaded walk for the Cavaliers lone run of the game before the final two outs were made.
“Credit to my two outfielders,” Miller said. “One held the runner and one threw out for the last out. Mayce put a great tag on.”
Hernandez finished off her complete-game with one earned run allowed on four hits. She struck out three and walked five.
“That’s a tough thing to ask from a freshman – to hold it down,” Miller said. “Our defense has been keeping us in games a lot. I knew if she could keep the ball in the air, my outfield can pretty much run down anything that they can get to.”
Burkett played a leadership role with Hernandez as the team gathered in the circle at one point with the bases loaded.
“We were talking about anything other than softball to get her head out of it,” Burkett said. “I didn’t want her to focus on the bases loaded. I just wanted her to pitch how she’s been pitching.”
Burkett was thrilled to see Hernandez pull through.
“She’s amazing and I love her,” she said. “She practices how she plays. She can’t crack a smile out of her on the field. She’s here for business.”
Hernandez has impressed and pitching a district win Tuesday was huge for her and the Grizzlies.
“We’ve got quite a few good freshmen pitchers who came in and she impressed me early on and she impressed Mayce,” Miller said. “We took her to our first tournament and she did a really good job and earned that spot. We have a lot of faith in her.”
For a Grand Oaks team that scored 55 runs and totaled nine homers during a 5-2 stretch last week, it was a relatively quiet night at the plate against College Park lefty Abby Haynie.
It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the fourth when pinch hitter Jaz Leveston hit an RBI single and No. 9 hitter Julia Veilleux made it 2-0 on a single of her own.
In the fifth, pinch hitter Ella Brown hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Burkett.
“We’ve had some kids who are seeing the ball well and maybe not getting the hits they wanted,” Miller said. “But they’re working the process. I called on them and they got the job done.”
College Park had a 4-2 week at the Corpus Christi Bayfront Bash where it averaged 9.6 runs per game.
So far district play hasn’t gone well with three losses now and 33 runs allowed in those games.
Grand Oaks had its sight set on College Park after the Cavaliers finished a game ahead of them last year in the district standings and made the playoffs. Plus, they swept Grand Oaks in two meetings.
“We’ve been saying all along that our ‘M.O.’ needs to be – especially in this district – play everybody like they’re an All-American. Their pitcher did a great job keeping us off balance and jamming us inside. We had a lot of weak contact. But we just stayed the course.”
Grand Oaks travels to New Caney Friday evening while College Park hosts Willis.
Grand Oaks softball players mob Kiley Milligan (7) after she threw out a runner at home in the top of the seventh on March 4, 2025. (Jose Palomo/SportCast Media)
