Success is a funny thing. While it’s something we all ultimately strive for, once we achieve it there’s nowhere really left to go but down.
Nowhere else can this be better demonstrated than in sports. A team or individual athlete can spend years trying to live up to a certain goal and once that goal is met, a bar has been set that becomes the level to which all will be compared to from that point forward.
And while there’s nothing wrong with setting high standards, if and when those same standards are not met time and again, the lack of doing so is considered failure.
The San Benito Lady Greyhounds softball program is a prime example of this athletic conundrum. As the only Valley softball organization so far to have qualified for two state tournaments, much is expected of the Lady Greyhounds. Unfortunately, if the team doesn’t make a state run each year, the season is considered to be unsuccessful.
Immediately after the Lady Hounds were eliminated from the playoffs by South San Antonio on Saturday afternoon in Sinton, the social media world was abuzz with those who were questioning the team’s season and, particularly, second-year head coach Kristy Leal. While a trip to to the area round of the postseason might cut it with other programs, in San Benito it’s nowhere near good enough, especially considering that the year before – Leal’s first season – the team was ousted in the first round.
To make matters worse, Leal is unfairly compared to her predecessor, Elias Martinez, who led the Lady Hounds to a second state semifinal berth in 2015, which was his last season as the team’s skipper before taking the head softball job at Harlingen South, which is, by the way, still alive and kicking in the playoffs.
In fact, had the Lady Hounds advanced to the third round as it looked like they would after taking Game 1 of their series against South San on Friday, they would have clashed head on with Martinez’s Lady Hawks.
The storylines leading up to the showdown would have been absolutely endless and the game most certainly would have been one of the most highly anticipated softball games in Valley history. Unfortunately, the matchup is now wishful thinking and, for some, the blame rests entirely on Leal’s shoulders.
That’s not at all fair.
It’s arbitrary to place any blame on Leal for the Lady Hounds’ recent loss, and it’s foolish to compare her to Martinez and the teams that came before her.
Leal is a marvelous coach who will undoubtedly see better days with the Lady Hounds. Despite losing four seniors to graduation this offseason, she will get back a bevy of players who will assuredly return the softball program back to the level it has grown accustomed.
The bar was set very high by those that came before Leal and that’s a good thing because it’s important to aim high and not accept mediocrity. However, fans need to realize that in sports teams can fall short of expectations and when this happens, good coaches like Leal shouldn’t suddenly find themselves having to justify their worth in the court of public opinion.
More importantly, coming up short should in no way diminish an entire season, especially one that ended with a second-place district finish and a postseason berth as San Benito’s 2016-17 season just did.
