Euless Trinity doesn’t boast the greatest of records heading into the Class 5A softball playoffs. In fact, at 13-10 overall and 7-7 in league play, they are hardly menacing.

    But Marcus head coach Christy Tumilty is not about to overlook her team’s first round opponent. And she is preaching that every day to her players.

     “We had a first round loss last year, so we know every team is worthy when you get to this point,” said Tumilty of the upcoming playoff schedule. “We have the week to prepare mentally for this one, and we know Trinity is a great hitting team. Hopefully we will go out there and play our best.”

     The first pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Trinity. Tumilty said she lost the coin flip when both coaches were forced to flip for home and home after learning it was nearly impossible to find an open field on Friday night. Friday has proved to be the first available date teams in the area can schedule playoff games due to TAKS testing all this week. The match up will also be a one-game playoff rather than a best-of-three format.

     At least on paper, Marcus is the obvious favorite. Just two years removed for their first ever state tournament berth, the Marauders carry a 20-6-2 overall record into playoffs. They went undefeated through the district schedule until last week in a 6-4 loss to Flower Mound. Both teams ended up splitting the season series and tied for the top spot in league play.

     Tumilty said the loss came at just the right time considering their last loss hadn’t been since March 21 and had been on a roll since starting the season 1-4 overall.

     “You have to learn from your losses, and we needed that reality check,” Tumilty said. “That type of reality check makes you realize how much work needs to be done.”

     That’s why Tumilty refuses to overlook a team like Trinity, citing that her own team’s offensive production has slipped in recent weeks despite losing just one game.

     “We’ve been leaving a lot of girls in scoring position and haven’t been capitalizing as much as we have in the past,” Tumilty added. “We have to get back to getting the lead runner on base because it gives us so many more options. We have to stay sharp.”

     Trinity won four of its final six games to edge in as District 5-5A’s fourth place team. They shared a district with Keller and Justin Northwest, who combined for just two losses in league play and 13 losses overall.

     “When we play our best, I think we have a really good chance of going far,” Tumilty said. “I think we have the key components in place and we are very excited to be in this position. We had a great district to challenge us and prepare us for this part of the season. We are looking to make a solid run.