By Mike Considine

It was a bold move for TAPPS Class 4A team Holy Cross to schedule tough Class 5A teams like Johnson and Steele earlier this year.

The benefit of facing that level of competition may have been hard to visualize when the Knights were being shut out by lopsided scores. It’s crystal clear now.

Holy Cross (23-14-2) will play Fort Bend Christian (24-13) from Sugar Land 7 p.m. tonight in the TAPPS 4A region round. If they Knights win the game at Texas A&M, they’ll advance to the state semifinals.

“It’s pretty cool stuff,” Holy Cross coach Angel Cedillo said. “The girls have had a good year. We’ve played pretty good teams and been pushed a lot. They’ve learned a lot. Playing that kind of competition is going to either break your spirit, or you’re going to get better.

“In our district, the only team we couldn’t beat was Victoria St. Joseph. We lost to them 3-1 and 5-1, and they were district champions.”

The Knights are the last remaining area baseball or softball squad in the 2013 season week of the playoffs.

“I’m very proud of the progress the team has been making,” Cedillo said. “We’re excited to be playing in the college environment.”

To prepare his team for the crowd and the atmosphere, Cedillo has compared Holy Cross’ chances to those of Milan, Ind. in the movie “Hoosiers.”

In fact, he’s even referenced the tape measure scene, where the team’s coach measures the height of the baskets to reinforce to the players that playing there won’t really be any different than it would be in their home gym.

Of course, the girls had never seen or heard about the movie.

“I tell the seniors that, although they’ve never been there, you can’t take away the things they’ve learned this year,” Cedillo said. “They’re going to be excited, but we want it to be fun.

“We want them to be excited, but we don’t want it to get the best of them.”

Holy Cross is anchored by a core of players that established their playoff credentials last year. It defeated Argyle Liberty Christian 2-1 in the postseason opener before falling 3-1 to Houston St. Pius X in the area round as a Class 5A team.

The Knights have only offered softball for a seven years. Cedillo is in his third season as coach and Holy Cross has only been playing on campus the last two years.

Holy Cross recently played host to its first on-campus playoff game. The Knights have not played since that game, in which they defeated Houston Northland Christian 13-1 April 27 in the area round.

The Knights took control of that game early, scoring 11 runs in the first two innings.

“Coach Ernie Garcia has been with us since the beginning,” Cedillo said of his batting coach. “Our offense has been very, very spotty at times. But in this game, we were hitting very, very well.

“We played a warmup game against Harper, and it wasn’t our best showing. I actually canceled practice the day before the game.”

Cedillo confessed that he used the ploy to make sure his team was in the right frame of mind for the Northland Christian game.

“They looked at me like I was possessed,” he said, “but it helped. It was a 3 p.m. game and they were supposed to (report) at 1 p.m. But when I got there at 12:30, they were already dressed to play. They came out (in the game) and started hitting and running.”

Holy Cross was coming off a second-place finish in the TAPPS 3-4A district tournament. The Knights won their first two games by substantial margins, defeating Corpus Christi Incarnate Word 10-0 and Austin Domenic Savio 12-2. They lost 5-1 to St. Joseph in the title game.

The Knights are experienced team with several seniors playing key roles.

Nicole Gomez is a key offensive player at first base, Brianna Casillas is a defensive standout at second baseman and Sabrina Casas is a converted infielder who has filled a hole in right field. Gomez leads the team wth a whopping 48 RBIs.

“We have some seniors who are fine leaders and strong people,” Cedillo said. “We have three seniors (Gomez, Casillas and Casas) who’ve been with us since freshman year. They stepped up last year.”

Senior Marisa Hernandez (11-3) shares pitching duties with junior Julia Ibarra, when she’s not patrolling center field. Another senior, Gabby Lopez, has taken over at designated hitter and relieved Hernandez of her hitting duties.

“Marisa does two things for us already,” Cedillo said. “Gabby has been contributing by giving us big at-bats for Marisa. She has done a great job in that role.”

Among the underclassmen, Ibarra (12-10) is the team’s primary pitcher and sophomore Marisol Ortega is a defensive wizard at shortstop. Ortega was all-district as a freshman. Ibarra authored the shutout of Incarnate word and limited Northland Christian to two hits.

“Julia throws about 70 percent of the games and she bats second,” Cedillo said. “We just give her the ball and see what she can do that day. We have play good defense, if they want to bunt her. We work hard at it. We take a lot of pride in our defense, and it’s really worked out.”

Despite the long break between games, Holy Cross seems to have kept its edge.

“We’ve had really, really good practices,” Cedillo said. “Fort Bend Christian is a good ballclub. They’ve been whupping the people they’ve played (in the postseason).”

Cedillo wanted the team to get the experience of playing at a college facility. Although he wasn’t thrilled about the day of the week they’ll be playing on, the exposure to a top-flight environment was the over-riding concern for the sake of building the program.

“We tried to find middle ground,” Cedillo said. “This was one of our options. I don’t like to play on Monday. No coach likes to play Monday, but it was the only day the college program has off.”

Fort Bend Christian will be a formidable opponent.

“They have a good pitcher and catcher,” Cedillo said. “Their pitcher throws the ball really well and she keeps the ball where it needs to be thrown. Their strength is that they’re so utterly solid.

“Our kids know what they need to do. It’s execution. We have to have a little of that. It’s going to come down to which team executes more effectively.”

After a strong showing in the playoffs last year and great performances to date in the postseason this year, the Knights coach believes his team is ready for the challenge.

“We want the girls to get after them,” Cedillo said. “They’re excited, and they really want to be there. We’re one step away from the Final Four.

“They’re close, and they’re good enough to get there. It’s just a matter of believing it themselves.”