Trinity Lutheran’s Genesis Munoz came up to bat with her team trailing 3-1 at the Indiana All-Star Classic for softball sponsored by the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Saturday afternoon at Decatur Central High School.
The bases were loaded with two outs, and it was the top of the ninth for the South team. This was their best chance to win the game.
As Munoz did time and time again for the Cougars this spring, she delivered at the plate.
Munoz ripped a line drive to centerfield for a single, driving in two runs to tie the ballgame up at 3-3. That two-run single got South back into the game, and it allowed them to carry momentum and score one more run.
Tecumseh’s Reagan Hight hit an RBI single to make it 4-3, and the South team took care of business in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory.
Because of Munoz’s timely hit, she was named the MVP of the game.
"It was awesome," Munoz said. "I had no clue they were even giving MVP. At the end of the game, they just announced my name and it was just kind of like, ‘oh wow, that’s pretty cool.’ So it was awesome."
The All-Star Classic was supposed to be two seven-inning games since there were 21 girls on each team. But rain forced a three-hour delay for the event, so they shortened it to just one nine-inning game.
Munoz said the coaches did a good job getting everyone playing time. Munoz played third base in the third inning, and she played catcher in the fourth and eighth innings.
She only had two at-bats, with her final one being the biggest of the game.
"It was cool to play alongside a lot of DI athletes," Munoz said.
The MVP award for Munoz is added to a long list of accolades she has received since wrapping up her senior season at Trinity Lutheran.
After hitting .618 this spring with nine homers and 46 RBI, she was also named to the all-District 5 team and all-state team and was a finalist for Miss Softball.
"It’s been pretty surreal," Munoz said. "Going into this season, I had expectations for myself and my team to do very well, but I didn’t expect this stuff to come out of it."
Munoz will continue her softball career at Franklin College, but before that, she still has some travel ball left to play and one cool opportunity that awaits her in a couple of weeks.
On July 1, Munoz and her family are going to Puerto Rico so she can tryout for the Puerto Rico National U-19 team.
"I’m super excited, but it hasn’t really hit me yet, it’s kind of weird," Munoz said.
Tryouts will take place on July 5-7, with two games taking place on July 8. If Munoz makes the team, she will go back to Puerto Rico in August for practices and then play with the team in the International Cup in Peru. It would cause Munoz to miss her first week of college at Franklin if she’s able to play for the team.
"Most of my August could be very congested," Munoz said.