It seems appropriate to quote perhaps the greatest basketball coach on any level at the end of the Roncalli 2010 girls softball season.

Johnny Wooden, who was born in Martinsville and went on to coach UCLA to 10 national men's basketball championships and one of the greatest winning streaks of all time at 88 games said, "Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

The quote seems to sum up the message by Roncalli head softball coach Dave Lauck after his team lost to Class 3A, No. 1 Boonville 5-1 at the Edgewood Semi-state on Saturday. Roncalli showed courage throughout the game and the season, and in the final game, ran into team that pounced on the opportunities presented to them. Boonville, the winner of 33 games this season with only one loss, plays the winner between New Palestine and Edgewood for right to advance to the state title next weekend.

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To view 20 photos from the game, copy the following URL and paste it into another open browser window. The  pictures are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thechron/sets/72157624211501656/

Junior outfielder Mel Keyler reached first base after being hit by a pitch to start a Rebels rally in the top of the first inning. junior shortstop Trista Cox, who was 2-for-4, singled to put runners on first and third before a pop fly by junior Andrea Rodriguez was dropped by Boonville to score a run.

The Lady Pioneers mirrored the Roncalli scoring rally as it scored one run and left two runners on base to leave the game tied at one after the first.

Roncalli was retired in the next two innings, managing to send only eight players to the plate. Booneville in turn, took advantage of that to seize control of the contest.

In the bottom of the third, Boonville did all of its damage with two outs. The Lady Pioneers managed to draw back-to-back walks, leading to a hit into centerfield by junior Samantha Saltzman to make it 2-1. A double by Senior Alex Childress made it 3-1.

The Rebels never would recover as Boonville added one run in the fourth and sixth to win. The Lady Pioneers won the school's only state title when it captured the Class 3A softball crown in the 2005-06 season.

Lauck proud of Rebels' season

Lauck was quick to point out about how he felt about his players shortly after the game.

 "I am very proud of the effort we had today," Lauck said. "We were competitive in this game and every game this year. As a coach, that  is all you can ask from your players."

 The second-year Rebels coach said his team finished the season with a mark he thought it could attain when the team first practiced during the preseason.

"I think the 22-7 mark is a pretty good record for us and it is right about where I thought we would be," Lauck said. "If you look at the teams we played and their records, I think we  competed well and worked hard and played well together."

Lauck said inconsistent pitching in the semi-state game put his team in a tough spot.

"We had two walks and a player hit by a pitch that led to three runs," Lauck said. "You cannot give a good team those kinds of chances, and I am confident we could have beat them had we not put them in position to score runs."

Lauck said seniors Hannah Patton, Amy Oechsle, Siobhan Gudat and Lauren Ross did a good job leading the team.

"We had a great group of seniors who were unselfish and accepted their roles to play a key part on this team," Lauck said. "They have been very resilient, and more importantly, are great kids who happen to be good softball players, too."