Austin-area teams prepare for district rematches in next round of UIL softball playoffs
Cedar Ridge, Lake Travis, Bowie, Liberty Hill and Gateway College Prep swept their area-round matchups of the UIL state softball playoffs while Hays, Burnet, Thorndale and Thrall each won one-game series to advance to this week's regional quarterfinals.
Dripping Springs lost in three games, Georgetown was beaten in a one-game playoff and East View, Bastrop and Elgin were eliminated in sweeps.
Six Austin-area teams will square off against district rivals in the regional quarterfinals: Lake Travis and Bowie in Class 6A, Hays and Leander in 5A and Thorndale and Thrall in Class 2A.
Around Class 6A
Cedar Ridge dominates Steele: Cedar Ridge dominated a strong Cibolo Steele team 5-1 and then blanked Steele 12-0 to advance. Nicole McMann pitched a nine-strikeout three-hitter in the first game, and in the second game Kendall Ward allowed just one hit and Tyra Thompson and Quinn Rives homered, Taylor Phillips tripled and Gabriella Zulfekar doubled.
More: Only two of our five teams with the best shots at state are still alive
Dripping Springs falls: Dripping Springs controlled the first game 4-1 over Schertz Clemens behind the play of Haiden Anderson, Jai-Lynn Flores and Lorelei Gamble, but the Buffaloes then won back-to-back games 17-3 and 7-1 to win the series.
Bowie takes out East Central: Bowie knocked out 2023 state semifinalist San Antonio East Central 5-0 and 10-6 to advance. Kate Bookidis pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 1 while Anya German, Valeria Feeney and Bella Nungaray all hit home runs. Bookidis came in to pitch in the fourth inning of Game 2 and earned the win when Bowie rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth and then added five more in the sixth.
Lake Travis sweeps: The Cavaliers did it the hard way, winning Game 1 7-3 in 10 innings and then prevailing 9-4 in Game 2 with a five-run rally in the ninth inning. Julie Rodriguez pitched all 19 innings of the series, giving up six earned runs, stranding 12 baserunners and striking out 13. Maddie Pinzon hit .444 in the two games with four hits, including a grand slam.
More: Back in February, these were our 30 Austin-area softball players to watch
Around Class 5A
Liberty Hill advances: Liberty Hill swept San Antonio Southwest 6-3 and 10-3. Addison Shifflett homered and scored twice in the first game, which also saw Cadence Wiese hit a home run. Rylee Slimp had a double and a homer and drove in three runs in Game 2 and Maddie Kingslien hit a pair of homers.
In other action, Leander swept Medina Valley and notched its eighth straight win. Hays beat San Antonio McCollum 7-5 in a one-game series behind Kaitlyn Cowan's three hits, including a triple in the bottom of the seventh. The Hawks overcame a five-run fifth inning by McCollum by rallying twice, once to tie and once to win. Two-time defending state champion Montgomery Lake Creek run-ruled Bastrop twice in a 16-0 and 10-0 series sweep. College Station swept East View 10-0 and 16-6. No. 2 state-ranked Lake Belton swept Elgin 13-0 and 12-2, and A&M Consolidated upset Georgetown 5-3 in a one-game playoff.
Around the area
In Class 4A, once-beaten and top 10-ranked Salado unloaded on La Grange 19-1 and 17-0, while Gateway College Prep swept Smithville 9-3 and 9-4. And Burnet won a one-game playoff by slamming Giddings 13-1.
In Class 2A, Thorndale blanked Snook 10-0 and Thrall beat Burton 9-1 to set up their District 27-2A rematch in the regional quarterfinals. Thorndale beat Thrall 5-2 on March 11 and beat the Tigers again 5-4 on April 5.
In TAPPS, Hyde Park got a 10-strikeout, shutout pitching performance from Taylor Haywood to advance to the regional finals by beating Houston Second Baptist 7-0. Haywood also hit a home run.
Team of the Week: Leander. The Lady Lions swept Medina Valley 9-2 and 18-7 to improve to 32-5 on the season with eight straight wins. Leander is one of three District 25-5A teams who are a combined 13-3 in the playoffs with 3 of 4 teams into Round 3 and Leander facing Hays hits week. Rouse lost to Smithson Valley who faces Liberty Hill, but the Rouse loss came with their top two hitters missing due to injury. Leander surge has been sparked by freshman pitcher Scarlett Geurin (younger sister of Oklahoma pitcher SJ Geurin) who has allowed just three runs in her past 34 2/3 innings pitched. Lions Rachel Grundei, Madelyn Strader, and Taylor Porter are leading a prolific offense. Grundei is hitting .517 with 12 homeruns, 60 RBI and 57 runs scored while Strader is hitting .508 with 62 runs and 34 RBIs. Porter is hitting .400 with 60 more RBIs. The three have combined for 41 doubles, 22 triples, 34 homeruns and an incredible 66 stolen bases led by Grundei’ s 32 steals.