King softball coach Laura Morales said nothing came easy for the Mustangs this season.

That included King’s Class 5A bi-district playoff series against San Antonio Clark which went three games and was decided in extra innings Saturday night at Cabaniss Field.

The Cougars scored twice in the sixth inning to force extra innings before pushing across three runs in the ninth inning to take the game, 6-3 and the series two games to one.

District 27-5A champion King blanked the Cougars, 5-0 in Game 2 of the series earlier Saturday to force the decisive game after being shutout, 1-0 in the series opener Friday in San Antonio.

The Mustangs (20-15 overall), who won their first district title since 1995 this season, fell in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season.

“Our seniors didn’t want this to be their last game and they wanted to get out of the first round — it was just which team wanted it the most,” Morales said.

King held a 3-1 sixth-inning lead but the Cougars (17-13) scored the last five runs of the game to advance to play New Braunfels in the area playoffs later this week.

Henessey Soto (who also was the winning pitcher) and Megan Martinez had three hits apiece to lead the Cougars’ 13-hit attack, while Christina Rodriguez drove in three runs for San Antonio Clark.

Jamie Arsuaga went 4 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI to lead King.

Sophomore pitcher Mariena Gallardo — who took the loss in Game 3 — threw a four-hit shutout in Game 2 to help the Mustangs temporarily stave off elimination. Gallardo didn’t walk anyone in the win and struck out three while going the distance.

“We had a lot of fight in us — we didn’t want it to stop here,” Gallardo said.

Senior Megan Thompson — who with seniors Amber Garcia and Britney Villarreal played in their final game for King Saturday — went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI for King in Game 2. Ariel Alvarez’s two-run single and Arsuaga’s RBI groundout keyed a decisive four-run, fourth inning for the Mustangs. Leadoff batter Erika Rojas scored two runs in that game for King.

Game 3

S.A. CLARK 6, KING 3, 9 INNINGS

SA Clark 000 012 003—6 13 0

King 100 110 000—3 7 3

WP – Henessey Soto. LP – Mariena Gallardo. 2B – K, Jamie Arsuaga. SAC, Rochelle Nash, Dani Nash. Highlights – SAC, Soto 3-4 and 7 K’s,

Megan Martinez 3-4, Christine Rodriguez 2-5, 3 RBI, R. Nash 2-4, Melanie Schwartz 2-5; K, Arsuaga 4-4, 2B, 2 RBI. Records: S.A. Clark, Overall, 16-13. King, 20-15.

Game 2

KING 5, S.A. CLARK 0

SA Clark 000 000 0—0 4 1

King 100 400 x—5 6 4

WP – Mariena Gallardo. LP – Megan Aragones (7-3). 2B – Megan Thompson. Highlights – King, Megan Thompson 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI: Ariel Alvarez 1-3, R, 2 RBI; Erika Rojas 1-2, 2 R, Jamie Arsuaga 1-4, RBI; Cassie Deleon 1-2; SAC, Aragones 1-3, Deni Nash 1-3, Melanie Schwartz 1-3, Christina Rodriguez 1-3.