One For the Record Books in Texas

The last swing of the high school softball season in Texas this year is going to go down in the all-time history books. It was a walk-off grand slam homer.

The girl doing the honors was sophomore Andrea Ortiz from Weslaco High of Weslaco, which is in the Rio Grande Valley region of the state and has never had a team reach the Class 6A state championship. 

Weslaco had started the bottom of the seventh inning in the final state championship game of the weekend being held at Red & Charline McCombs Field at the University of Texas staring at a 9-3 deficit to Midway of Waco. With one out, the first run of the inning was driven in by Alexis Soliz. Walks and a hit batter kept things going, then there were RBIs by Elizabeth Craig and Romy Nunez.

Ortiz then stepped into the box and launched a bases loaded bomb over the left-centerfield fence. Just like that, a 9-7 deficit became an 11-9 win and the season was complete in the Lone Star State.

The state’s highest ranked team for the national rankings, however, is going to be Class 5A state champion Melissa. The Cardinals blanked Harlingen South, 8-0, to win their first state title and become the first team from the Dallas area to win a state title since Forney in 2018.

In their win, a future Longhorn, Caigan Crabtree, homered twice on the field where she’s going to start playing next season. Michigan State commit and highly regarded junior pitcher Alexa Starr didn’t start but came on with bases loaded in the bottom of the second, gave up nothing and finished with a four-hitter and six strikeouts in 5 ⅓ shutout innings. Caigan’s mom, Cassie, is the team’s head coach and will have almost all of her players back next season in what could be a run at a mythical national title.

Katy High of Katy, Texas gave it a shot for the mythical national title this year and was a candidate to get it if it had won the Class 6A state title that Weslaco won. The Tigers lost in their regional final to Kingwood, which then lost to Midway in the state semifinals.

The other major state championship to be won last week was by Austintown Fitch of Austintown, Ohio. The Falcons captured their second straight Division I state title in Ohio with a 4-0 triumph over Watkins. Both teams were in top 25 of the Super 70 national rankings, but it will be Fitch that will finish inside the top 10.

Sydnie Watts was the standout for the Falcons in their big victory. The Georgia Tech-committed junior tossed a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and she had a home run at the plate. Teammate Ayla Ray also hit a homer, which came in the bottom of the first and gave Watts all she would need as the pitcher.

California Concludes

The California season concluded on Saturday with Murrieta Mesa of Murrieta winning the CIF SoCal D1 regional title and with Amador Valley of Pleasanton winning the CIF NorCal D1 crown. 

Murrieta Mesa was the only CIF Southern Section D1 playoff finalist or semifinalist that did not opt out of the regional playoffs and won its title with an 8-2 victory over Del Norte of San Diego. 

Amador Valley, which was the team that stunned the state earlier in the week with a 4-1 win over previously unbeaten St. Francis of Mountain View, won its title with a wild-and-wacky 13-11 win in nine innings over Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills).

The Dons were down to their last out and were trailing 7-4 in the top of the seventh inning when they scored four times to take the lead. Oak Ridge then forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the seventh and also scored three times in the bottom of the eighth after Amador Valley had taken a 11-8 lead.

Title Win in NC & More Championships to Come

Garner of Garner, N.C., was the only other Super 70 ranked team to win a state title last week and end its season.

Other ranked teams still going in their state playoffs (which will end over the next two weekends) are Kaukauna of Wisconsin, Marist and Mundelien of Illinois, Woodgrove of Virginia, Mercy and Hudsonville in Michigan, Downingtown West and Seneca Valley in Pennsylvania, Lexington Catholic of Kentucky, Mt. St. Dominic of New Jersey, Hamilton Southeastern of Indiana and Masuk of Connecticut.

There will not be a Super 70 rankings list next week since so few teams are playing. All of the teams still going will be featured in the final rankings of the season the following week.

(Through reported results of Tuesday, June 4)

(Previous ranking in parentheses)

*Indicates season complete.

1. (1) Orange Beach (Orange Beach, Ala.) 46-1*

2. (2) Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 27-2*

3. (3) Pace (Pace, Fla.) 28-2*

4. (4) Bartow (Bartow, Fla.) 30-2*

5. (11) Melissa (Melissa, Texas) 38-2-1*

6. (6) Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 21-4*

7. (7) Melbourne (Melbourne, Fla.) 29-1*

8. (21) Austintown-Fitch (Youngstown, Ohio) 23-1*

9. (9) Northwest Rankin (Brandon, Miss.) 34-0*

10. (10) Summerville (Summerville, S.C.) 30-0*