Wichita Falls, TX - The Cinderella story continued for the Lady Chargers softball team (19-13-1) this past weekend, but it didn't come easily as they had to battle against a perennial state
power in Wolforth Frenship (24-13). After winning game one Friday night, Frenship's offensive exploded Saturday morning pushing the series to a decisive game three roller-coaster ride that would last over six hours.
Central jumped out to an early lead in game one scoring two runs in the first inning before adding three more runs in the third. The Tigers managed to surge in the late innings, but the Lady Chargers showed composure and maturity taking game one 6-3.
With their season on the line, Frenship's offense exploded as they took game two by a score of 12-2 in a six inning affair. After a brief break, the teams met one last time in game three and the Lady Chargers jumped out to an early lead driving across two runs in both the first and second inning before adding three more runs in the top of the fifth to take a decisive 7-1 lead.
Once again showing they wouldn't go down without a fight, the Tigers drove across four runs of their own as Central held a narrow two run run going into the seventh inning. After adding an insurance run to take their lead to 8-5, mother-nature made here presence felt as both teams were made to endure a three hour plus weather delay. The Lady Chargers kept their nerve though closing out game three and advancing to their first ever Regional Quarterfinal and do so as the only 6A fourth place district finisher in the state left in the UIL playoffs.
Regional Quarterfinal Preview
Next up for Lady Chargers is a hometown showdown against a very familiar foe in the Keller Indians (30-8). Keller ISD is one of just five ISD's with multiple schools remaining in the 6A playoffs (Keller ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Houston ISD, Humble ISD, Northside ISD). Additionally, District Four is the only 6A district in the state with three teams still in the playoffs at the regional quarterfinal stage.
When discussing the strongest programs in the state, Keller's name undoubtedly needs to be mentioned. The 2017 State Champions have been crowned district champions four out of the last five season with a combined record of 141-35-3. After finishing as State Semi-finalist in 2019, the Indians have uncharacteristically bowed out of the playoffs early on, falling in the Bi-District round to Trinity in 2021 and in the Area round in 2022 to El Paso Americas.
The Indians made sure an early postseason exit wasn't in the cards this season though, advancing out of the Area round defeating District Two third place finisher Midland (18-12) by a three run margin in game one and 2-0 in game two.
The Indians have won 22 straight games with their last loss coming in early March, a 14-4 loss to a Pearland Oilers side that's 33-3 this year. Keller did show cracks early on in the season, going 11-8 in the non-district portion of their schedule, but have looked unbeatable since they opened district play against V.R. Eaton March 7.
Blowout wins have been a trademark of the Indians during this winning streak as they've won by more than three runs on 17 of 22 occasions. The plus side for the Lady Chargers is they featured in one of those game that was decided by a small margin when they lost 3-0 at Keller March 10.
The return match at Central saw Keller claim a much more comfortable 8-0 victory.
Keller are led on the mound by the tandem of Senior and Hardin Simmons commit Jorey Hood and junior and Tarleton State commit Sadie Beck. Conveniently enough, both threw 5-hit shutouts against Midland, Beck in game one and Hood in game two. A wide array of Indians have proven dangerous at the plate including Hood, senior and Incarnate Word commit Marissa Espinoza, senior and Yale commit Meredith Henderson, and sophomore Carly Genzer.
All three regional quarterfinal games will be played at Byron Nelson High school with game one taking place Thursday at 6PM. Game two will take place Friday night, also at 6PM with a game three, if necessary, taking place Saturday at 11AM. Tickets will only be sold at the gate with Adults cost $5 and students costing $3.
2023 UIL Texas Softball State Championships 2023 Softball 6A Regions 1 & 3
Keller ISD Athletics offers sports programs that help develop the whole student through athletics. KISD athletics programs will provide student-athletes opportunities to experience competition, leadership roles, self-improvement, goal setting, discipline, coachability, learning from setbacks, accountability, enhance academics, developing positive character traits, and being part of a team. In partnership with families and community, the mission of Central High School is to inspire in all students the desire to learn, the courage to lead, the value of proven character, and the commitment to serve. More information about Central and its coaches, student-athletes and teams is available at
Centralchargerathletics.com
