CHAMPIONSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Rattler Softball makes the first ever State Tournament

Championship Spotlight takes a look at past San Marcos High School Rattler teams and their successes throughout the season.

Today will take a look at the unique story of the 1993 San Marcos Rattlers softball team.

Coming into the 1993, the Rattlers had played just their second season as a program with the surge of popularity in the sport growing rapidly.

Former pitcher and current Rattler Head Coach Cathy Stoughton was a part of the softball team’s first two seasons, which played a unique schedule due to the University Scholastic League not sponsoring the sport.

“We played select and travel ball,” Stoughton said. “We played Austin Westlake, Austin Anderson, Austin Bowie and Smithson Valley. But there was nowhere else to go. We would play our season then we would be done.”

But then in 1993, the UIL made softball an official sport of the organization and opened the doors for postseason play.

“When the [UIL] said they could advance, we knew we had a good shot at going a long way,” Stoughton said. “We were pretty dialed in. … We were excited, because we all had been playing ball since we were little. We played select and little league together.”

One of the factors in the success of the Rattlers was the team chemistry of the players.

With many of the players having played volleyball, basketball and softball, the team chemistry flowed from sport to sport.

“One of the unique things about our team was that most of us played two or three sports,” Stoughton said. “A lot of us played volleyball and basketball together, so we already had that camaraderie and those special relationships in each of the sports. We were comfortable with our teammates, and it wasn’t like coming out of the field with a new team on the field.”

Another factor in the Rattlers success was the conclusion to the basketball season.

The previous basketball season, San Marcos qualified for their first ever state tournament, where the Rattlers defeated Duncanville 45-43 in overtime to claim the program’s first state championship.

During the 1993 season, the Rattlers were out to defend their state championship only to fall in the regional semifinals to overtime against Corpus Christi King.

With five of the players coming over from basketball to softball, including Stoughton, the Rattlers were ready to prove that loss was a fluke.

“That hunger of not making the [basketball] state tournament our senior year fueled us,” Stoughton said. “It added fuel to the fire. … The next day, we immediately went out to play softball. It was nice to share that with that group of athletes. We had some athletes that were softball only but back then we had athletes who played more sports.”

The Rattlers stormed through non-district play and district to finish the regular season with a 20-2 record and an undefeated district season to capture the district title.

With the district championship in tow, the Rattlers set their sights on the first ever softball State Tournament.

“We were very competitive,” Stoughton said. “We were blessed to have a group of girls who were dialed in into softball and took it very seriously. You still had some schools at the time where it wasn’t as competitive or had that many girls who played travel ball. We had some salty opponents so we had to play well just to get to the state tournament.”

Behind a blistering offense and a tough pitching staff, the Rattlers defeated Austin Travis 16-1 in the Bi-District round before defeating Shiner 21-0 to set up a showdown with Austin Bowie.

In a showdown of district champions, with the winner punching their ticket to the State Tournament, San Marcos defeated Bowie 9-6 in a close battle.

“It was a neat feeling,” Stoughton said. “We were really blessed to have a number of girls who played multiple sports. So there were 5 to 6 of us who were on the basketball team and had been to the state tournament the year before. … For us to get back to a state tournament after the disappointment of not making it in basketball was really special.”

San Marcos fell in the first round of the tournament to the eventual state champion Pasadena Dobie.

Now in charge of the program she helped lead to the first ever state tournament and passing by the banner everyday, Stoughton is proud of her accomplishments in helping lay the foundation for the program.

“Not everybody has the opportunity to come home,” Stoughton said. “I knew whenever I decided to become a teacher and coach, that I wanted to come home. … It’s really nice to be a part of history now that my sister, family and close friends helped start the program. I get to see things now that I’ve coached daughters of my friends and children of girls who played for me. That has been an amazing and special experience for me.”

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc