This is the third annual baseball/softball edition of Varsity Preview, and all three issues have one thing in common: We are talking about Stamford playing in the Class 2A state softball tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs won a state title in 2021 and lost a one-run heartbreaker in the semifinals in 2022 behind pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez, who is now starting for the Texas Lady Longhorns. Many thought it would a drop-off for Stamford last season with the graduation of Gutierrez. But the emergence of freshman pitcher Emma Follis sparked the Lady Bulldogs to a third consecutive trip to Austin where they lost in the state tournament semifinals.
It was a banner year for softball in West Texas. In addition to Stamford reaching the Class 2A state tournament, two teams on the fringe of our coverage area claimed state championships. Hermleigh beat both Cross Plains and Eula en route to capturing the school’s first Class 1A state title. And Coahoma, which plays in District 6-3A with Merkel, Jim Ned, Clyde and Ballinger, won the Class 3A state championship.
Stamford will face a rugged road to get back to state in Class 2A. Bangs reached the regional semifinals, and Hawley and Cisco both advanced to the regional quarterfinals a year ago. Interestingly, all four of those teams return their ace pitchers — Follis at Stamford, Shaylynn Bailey at Hawley, Abby Wolf at Bangs and Hannah Rogers at Cisco. It should make for a fascinating postseason for the Big Country’s Class 2A teams.
Merkel, which won district title in 2022 before finishing runner-up to Coahoma last spring, advanced to the Class 3A regional quarterfinals. And Abilene Wylie won 30 games in reaching the Class 5A regional quarterfinals. Both the Lady Badgers and Lady Bulldogs should be strong again.
Don’t forget the boys on the baseball diamond, either. Hawley made the regional finals and Albany and Stamford reached the regional semifinals a year ago. Amazingly, all three of those rivals are in the same District 8-2A. And all three bring back experienced pitching – Westyn Balch and Creed Ernst at Hawley, Tyler Chapman at Albany and Christian Duran at Stamford.
Wylie reached the Class 5A regional semifinals before losing to Argyle, which has become the Bulldogs’ nemesis in multiple sports. Wylie senior outfielder Braden Regala has already signed with Abilene Christian University, so the Bulldogs appear to be primed for another deep playoff run.
And one guarantee; a surprising team will emerge. As the baseball and softball seasons move from the February and early March tournaments to district play in late March and April, followed by the postseason in May, it will be fun to see which teams will rise to the top and find themselves in Austin or Round Rock for the state tournament in June.
Good luck to the area teams and thank you for supporting Varsity Preview. I hope this piques your interest for the upcoming season.
–Al Pickett
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