First came the celebration, then came the fireworks.
The Blinn College softball team helped legendary head coach Rick Church win his 1,000th career game Thursday in Brenham, Texas, and followed up the momentous achievement with a wild come-from-behind victory to end the day with a bang.
The Buccaneers swept their Region XIV South doubleheader against Lamar State College-Port Arthur 8-2 and 18-14 on a day all eyes were on Church.
The Buccaneers are now 25-15-1 overall and 10-6 in the South, while Church improved to 1,001-471 for his career. The 2021 NJCAA Hall of Fame inductee, who began his career as an assistant at the University of Nebraska in 1986, is in his 27th season as a head coach and 25th at Blinn, where he owns a program-best 927 victories.
(Pictured: The Blinn softball team douses head coach Rick Church in silly string after he won his 1,000th career game on April 11, 2024)
Church credited his latest achievement to his players and assistant coaches, including current assistant Jami Ingram, who has worked alongside Church for 19 seasons.
“When you have an amazing program, great coaches, coaching colleagues, players, and administration behind you, that’s what helps you win 1,000 games,” Church said. “There has to be a reason a coach sticks around long enough to do something like this, and I’ve had a lot of great support on the way to reaching this milestone.”
A five-run third inning in game one Thursday paved the way for Church’s big moment.
After Lamar State took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first frame, the Bucs responded with two runs of their own in the home half of the inning.
In the third, a one-out rally started when freshman Bailey Boetjer walked, sophomore Ripley Welker singled, and freshman Kayden Harms reached on an error. Freshman Darian DeLeon singled in the go-ahead run, and one out later freshman Grace Bracken walked to make it 4-2. Freshman Haley Hughes then broke the game open with a bases clearing double to make it 7-2.
Hughes added an RBI double to close out the scoring in the fifth.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Alayna Calvillo makes contact with a pitch during a game against Lamar-State Port Arthur on April 11, 2024)
“We settled down after that first inning and got to work,” Church said. “Credit to Hughes in the first game for giving us a couple of big two-out RBIs to give us some separation.”
The Bucs totaled nine hits, including three for sophomore Alayna Calvillo and two apiece for Hughes and sophomore Alyssa Boozy.
Sophomore pitcher Peyton Welker tossed a three-hit complete game to improve to 14-5 on the year. She gave up two unearned runs while walking two Seahawks and striking out six.
Following the victory, the Bucs doused Church in celebratory silly string, which appropriately set the tone of game two.
Blinn and Lamar State combined for 32 runs and 31 hits in a game that saw the two teams exchange a pair of crooked numbers in the third inning.
The Buccaneers trailed 9-3 after the Seahawks tallied seven runs in the top of the frame, but rallied with 10 of their own in their half.
“Lamar State jumped on us early again, but we fought back,” Church said. “We had some errors; we had to use all four of our pitchers; but when we had a bad inning, we had a good response. If you’re going to have a game like that, you want to be on the winning side and we were.”
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Ripley Welker makes contact with a pitch during a game against Lamar-State Port Arthur on April 11, 2024)
The star of the hitting exhibition was Ripley Welker, who clubbed a two-run homer in the first inning and a grand slam during a five-run fourth. Welker also singled and doubled as she finished her day 4 for 4 with three runs and nine RBIs.
Welker recently moved from the seventh spot to the fifth spot in the lineup and has flourished, going 10 for 20 since April 3.
“She’s showing confidence in every at bat and has been a much more consistent competitor this season,” Church said. “She has really settled into that fifth hole.”
The Bucs had 16 hits. Calvillo had three, including a triple, Boetjer doubled for both of her hits, and Harms and DeLeon also had two hits apiece.
Lamar State rallied for two runs in the fourth and fifth innings and added a solo run in the seventh, but failed to close the gap any further.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Peyton Welker delivers a pitch during a game against Lamar-State Port Arthur on April 11, 2024)
Freshman pitcher Bella De Los Santos started for Blinn but settled for a no-decision. Sophomore Camdyn Shugart earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief. Freshman Paige Bunting tossed 1 2/3 frames before Peyton Welker returned to record the final two outs of the game.
“Peyton doesn’t get rattled,” Church said. “Her 14-5 record shows how much her overall demeanor has changed from last year and how much she’s improved.”
The Bucs get back to work with a Region XIV South twin bill against Coastal Bend College beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
