The Flower Mound softball team will open the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday in a one-game face off with Grapevine.

     The first pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Lewisville High School. The Jaguars (20-6-2 overall) tied rival Marcus for the best record in District 6-5A (9-1) and will face a Mustang team that finished third in District 5-5A with a 9-4 record. Flower Mound reached the Region I semifinals a year ago.

     “We want to build on what we accomplished last year and we feel as if we are a much better team this year,” Flower Mound head coach Mark Larriba said. “We have been trying to reflect back on how we got there before and what it will take to do it again.”

     Larriba said he doesn’t want to look past Grapevine, however. Despite finishing 9-4, they were in a district that featured two teams (Keller and Justin Northwest) that combined for just two losses in district and 13 on the season. To their credit, the Mustangs lost just eight games all year.

     “They are just like every other Grapevine team in that they will definitely be well coached and will have a great pitcher,” Larriba added. “They will swing the bat well, too. To be honest, any team that you face in the playoffs will be good, so it’s just a matter of how we respond to the intensity and adversity.”

     Unlike last year, the Jags will open the first round with a one-game playoff rather than a best-of-three series. They did, however, beat Irving Nimitz in the second round in a one-game playoff in order to advance to the Regional Quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

     “I’m always going to prefer a best-of-three series because I think the better team ends up winning every time,” Larriba said. “But, we’ll go with it and we’ll be ready to play.”

     The first round doesn’t start until Friday due to TAKS testing. The layoff comes at just the right time for the Jags, who played three district games last week. They went 3-0 during that stretch, beating Southlake Carroll 10-0, Marcus 6-4 and Coppell 3-2.

     The Jags will send stud Ashley Rother to the mound. Rother has been strong all season and carries a 17-3 overall record into the playoffs. In district, she pitched in nine games and had four shutouts. Defensively, Larriba said his team is much better from a year ago because they moved Taylor Hoagland to short stop and Jordan Jennings to third base. Through 29 games, the team has 27 errors. Last year, they averaged 1.5 errors per game.

     “Our framework is great pitching, defense and scratching out timely hitting,” Larriba said. “The girls know that and everyone knows their individual roles. We think we are stronger in that we have just as much power but better team speed. This is what you strive for every year, and we are just going to take it one step at a time … starting with Grapevine.”