Sports

The soccer program continues to thrive with neither team losing a game in district play and the girls undefeated for the season and have hung on to the #1 state ranking. Only two more weeks remain before the playoffs take over.

Fighting the February weather has not been easy for the DS softball team. March appears to be more favorable. On the first day of March they hosted Boerne Champion in a district game. The 1-1 Lady Tigers got off to a fast start with two runs in the first and second innings and finished up with 3 to blank the Lady Chargers 8-0. Haiden Anderson took the mound and declared she was queen of the hill. She allowed one hit and struck out four in a masterful game. Meanwhile she received the backing of 11 hits from her teammates. Taylor Anderson and Jordan Cox kicked in 4 each, including a triple and home run by Cox. Erika Kanetzky, Attie Lux and Linan Scott had the others.

Boys honorees: First team: Senior Layne Herington. Did not get to play that much last year due to a senior laden team but took advantage of his senior year. He led the team in points (343), 3-FG (64) and FTA (.741).

A full week of sports were rudely interrupted by a freezing spell that came in on Thursday and hung around for the weekend. Dripping Springs had three major events scheduled for the campus that had to be tweaked. Anytime you spend time scheduling outdoor events for February you are open to such treatment. Seldom does one get to compete in comfortable weather regardless.

It is a good sign as to the depth a program has when the JV teams also do well in numbers and points scored. The Comal ISD Relays was a good start to this season. The JV girls overpowered the field and the boys were competitive as well.

Track got off to a successful start for Dripping Springs as they competed in the Comal ISD Relays. Both divisions battled Smithson Valley for the title with the boys taking the championship while the girls fell just a few points short. The Tigers were headed up by double gold medal winners Brant Melton and Gage Groce. Likewise, Karsten Bobb kept the Lady Tigers in the mix with two golds.

Drip lacrosse started off their weekend at home with a win on Friday night against Episcopal Houston. The cold night started sloppy and the Tigers found themselves down 5-2 with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter. That’s when the proverbial switch flipped. “We changed things up on defense. We stopped the back door cuts and giving them opportunities on the crease” said Goalkeeper Kaiden Grupp. Grupp ended the night with 7 saves in cage and took home the team hammer. After the change, the defense didn’t allow a goal in the final 34 minutes.

After squeezing out a victory against district foe Hays Johnson, the Lady Tigers headed out to College Station to play in the NFCA Lead-Off Classic to quickly get more good opposition to prepare themselves for the rest of the season. They would split their six-game set and come back home to take on perennially strong New Braunfels Canyon in another district game.

The Dripping Springs wrestling teams had cruised through the first two levels of the playoffs with ease; however the UIL State Championships held in Berry Center in Cypress over the weekend were a different story. The competition, as expected, was tough and talent close.

Merrily, merrily we roll along could well be the Dripping Springs soccer programs theme song. There can be very little to be unhappy about these days. Both the boys and girls teams have turned the corner and are heading home to the district title. They went through the first half undefeated in district play and no indication that will change in the next 3 ½ weeks. Instead of the games getting closer, the two teams keep scoring more and more.

Drip Lacrosse took the field Thursday night in front of a strong crowd, despite the blustery cold weather. Before the game, the team and its fans stood in silence to honor the memory of their former teammate, Taden Frickel. This would be their first time to face off at home without Frickel. The team noted “it is in Taden’s honor that we play this game. To us, we honor him by HOW we play this game. We will play like Taden would; full speed, full of grit, and with a huge smile on our face.” Coach Bill Cafferata shared that “Taden had an incredible gift of bringing everyone together, and because of that gift, we must continue to lean on each other as we keep stepping forward.” The Frickel Family joined the team in their pregame meal. Following a powerful rendition of the National Anthem, the Tigers channeled their emotion on to the field. Senior Gideon Schlab wore the #16 jersey in recognition of his play in the previous game against Allen.

It is an unusual situation for any sport to begin with a district game but that is exactly what happened to the Dripping Springs softball team. The number of teams dictate this. The Lady Tigers return seven starters, including their top two pitchers from a district championship team. Even though they had five scrimmages under their belts, the start was not as smooth as one might expect. On this cold and windy night, DS struggled to a 5-3 win over Hays Johnson. No matter it is a district win and the sharpness will come.