Category: Softball

by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cantu’s fifth-inning homer lifts Abilene High to 3-1 win over Wylie

With both the district championship and playoff seeding already locked up before the first pitch of Tuesday night’s softball matchup between the Abilene High and Wylie, neither team stood to gain or lose a whole lot from the game’s outcome.

But for those in attendance at the AHS softball field, it wasn’t hard to see how much the contest meant to both teams.

Less than three weeks after the Lady Eagles and Lady Bulldogs battled to a 1-0 AHS victory in the first of two matchups between the squads, the two teams put on another show Tuesday, with a two-run home run by Kinzley Cantu in the fifth inning serving as the difference in a 3-1 Abilene High win.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall’s Jones takes the award with spectacular effort at area meet

The best way to describe the area meet performance of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week (Wall’s Briggs Jones) is to simply let his coach, Craig Slaughter do the talking. 

“He ran a blistering 10.41 to set a school record and win the 100 meters,” Slaughter said. “He broke his long jump record with a jump of 23-11.5. I only let him jump twice because he was running out of room in the pit and I need that dude cranked up this week.

“Then he destroyed his triple jump record with a jump of 48-7.25

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL SOFTBALL ROUNDUP: Cooper rallies for Senior Night win, Abilene High locks up district title

The Abilene High and Cooper softball teams both came up with big wins Friday night, as the Lady Eagles clinched the outright District 4-5A championship with a 16-0 road rout of Wichita Falls Legacy and the Lady Cougars rallied at home for a 3-2 walk-off win over Wichita Falls Memorial on Senior Night.

AHS scored 10 first-inning runs in its victory, the Lady Eagles’ ninth in a row, while Cooper broke up a perfect game in the sixth before rallying from a run down in the home half of seventh to snap a two-game losing skid.

Friday’s results improved Abilene High to 15-7 overall and a perfect 7-0 in district play, while Cooper (14-12 on the year) moved to 4-3 in 4-5A action.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Jim Ned capitalizes on five errors, holds off late Clyde rally

TUSCOLA — The Jim Ned softball team only managed two earned runs off Clyde pitcher Kaycee Bingham on Friday, but five errors by the Lady Bulldogs led to seven unearned runs as the Lady Indians picked up a 9-7 win in District 6-3A action.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Lady Indians and pushed Jim Ned to 8-2 over its past 10 games.

It also put the Lady Indians in position to claim the top seed in the Class 3A Division I postseason as they have a 1½-game lead over Sweetwater in the standings with two games to play.

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by Evan Ren

Area Softball Stat Leaders (through April 10)

Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 10:

Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions. 

If your favorite team is missing, please give your head coach a friendly reminder to check his or her email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Ace Reyes, hot bats fuel Abilene High to run-rule victory over rival Cooper

Hosting rival Cooper with a chance to lock up at least a share of the District 4-5A championship, the Abilene High softball team took care of business Tuesday, using a five-run bottom of the third to break open the game on its way to a thorough 11-1 victory. 

Junior ace Avah Reyes limited the Lady Cougars to a single run on two hits and a pair of walks, and her teammates gave her ample support, following the third-inning outburst with another five spot in the fifth to end the game early.

The victory — AHS’ eighth in a row — improved the Lady Eagles to 6-0 in district play, giving coach Jenna Aguirre’s squad (14-7 overall) an opportunity to lock up the outright 4-5A title on Friday, when they hit the road north for a matchup with last-place Wichita Falls Legacy.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Eastland maintains slight hold on high seed with 16-3 win over Tolar

EASTLAND — A combination of speed and power was on full display on Tuesday, as the Eastland Lady Mavericks handed visiting Tolar a 16-3 mercy rule loss at the Linda Morren Diamond Park Softball Field. 

Eastland pounded out 13 total hits, including six doubles and two triples to put the game way. Much of that power was concentrated in an explosive 11-run third inning that turned a 5-2 EHS lead into a 16-2 runaway.

Jayci Majors was 2-for-3 with two triples and three RBIs and Adyson Carroll was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Lady Mavs (15-8, 8-3) which maintained a half-game lead over Comanche for the No. 2 playoff seed with the win. 

Tolar (13-11, 6-5) was led by Jorgia Reed, who was 2 for 2 with a double and Kaira Krause, who was 2 for 2 with an RBI.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Fast start, strong outing from Faries lift Wylie to 7-2 win over Cooper

The Wylie softball team put up three runs in the top of the first inning, and starter Avie Faries made that hold up, limiting Cooper to a pair of fourth-inning runs in a 7-2 win for the Lady Bulldogs on Monday at Cougar Diamond.

In a game that was postponed from Friday due to inclement weather and soggy field conditions, WHS avenged an 11-8 home loss to the Lady Cougars on March 18, improving to 3-2 in the District 4-5A standings with the victory.

Faries, who couldn’t hold onto a 5-2 lead in that first matchup, had no such trouble Monday, taking the circle with a 3-0 edge and watching that advantage balloon to 7-0 before Cooper finally got on the board. The sophomore right-hander then overcame a two-run bottom of the fourth to finish the game, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out five.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco junior takes the top spot with no-hitter

While no-hitters are fairly common at the high school level, the bulk of them are of the five-inning variety — ending early while locking down a mercy rule win. 

Going the full seven innings without allowing a hit, however, is much less common. And in the case of Cisco junior Case Williams, his seven-inning no-no in a 2-0 win over a good Coleman team last Tuesday secured our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the Week ending April 5.

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by Evan Ren

Area Softball Stat Leaders (through April 3)

Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 3:

Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions. 

If your favorite team is missing, please give your head coach a friendly reminder to check his or her email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Reyes battles through illness to shut out Wylie, AHS scores late for win

After being down for the count with some sort of illness for the past two days, Abilene High pitcher Avah Reyes took to the circle for a massive District 4-5A softball showdown against Wylie on Friday night at Bulldog Field.

With coach Jenna Aguirre thinking she might have to lift her star junior, Reyes gutted it out and matched Wylie’s Avie Faries pitch-for-pitch, allowing the Lady Eagles to take a 1-0 win to finish off a perfect first half of district play.

Maiya Badon scored the lone run of the game on a seventh-inning throwing error by Wylie catcher Cameron Gregory when pinch runner Claudia Ceballos stole second base with one out.

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by Evan Ren

Area Softball Stat Leaders (through March 27)

Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 27:

Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions. 

If your favorite team is missing, please give your head coach a friendly reminder to check his or her email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL SOFTBALL ROUNDUP: AHS, Cooper both win to maintain spots atop District 4-5A standings

The Abilene High and Cooper softball teams both picked up lopsided victories in District 4-5A action Tuesday, as the Lady Eagles cruised to an 8-0 home win over Wichita Falls Legacy and the Lady Cougars rolled to an 11-4 triumph at Wichita Falls Memorial.

Junior pitcher Avah Reyes tallied nine strikeouts in three perfect innings to eclipse the 300 career strikeout milestone for AHS, while Maddie Fry earned a complete-game win for Cooper. Both pitchers got plenty of run support, as the Lady Eagles outhit Legacy 10-2 and the Lady Coogs used a couple of big innings to post their second double-digit scoring output in three league games.

With Tuesday’s result, Abilene High (11-7) improved to 3-0 in 4-5A play, maintaining a one-game edge on Cooper (12-9, 2-1), which moved a half-game ahead of idle Wylie (13-6, 1-1) for second place.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde hurler takes this week’s award

Clyde softball has been overdue for landing a Big Country Preps Player of the Week award and senior pitcher Kaycee Bingham has just ended the drought. 

The Lady Bulldogs have been posting big numbers on a weekly basis, falling just short of the top spot. But Bingham has landed the spotlight with a 26-0 mercy rule perfect game win over San Angelo Grape Creek last week. She followed that with a three-hit 11-0 shutout of Merkel. 

Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde hurler takes this week’s award” →

by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Reyes dominates in the circle as AHS holds on for thrilling win over Cooper

Abilene High junior Avah Reyes had 15 strikeouts and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Lady Eagles claimed a 4-3 win over Cooper in District 4-5A play on Saturday afternoon.

Cooper rallied in the seventh inning behind two AHS errors and had the tying run in scoring position when Reyes struck out Sabrina Lopez-Calhoon swinging to end the game.

The showdown was the first time that AHS coach Jenna Aguirre faced off against Cooper coach Kaegan Jimenez. The two were best friends in high school, making the win bittersweet for the fourth-year AHS coach.

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by Evan Ren

Area Softball Stat Leaders (through March 20)

Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 20:

Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions. 

If your favorite team is missing, please give your head coach a friendly reminder to check his or her email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Seven-run fifth inning lifts Cooper to district-opening win over Wylie

After watching her team complete a rigorous nondistrict schedule with a 10-8 record, first-year Cooper softball coach Kaegan Jimenez felt her Lady Cougars were ready for the start of District 4-5A play.

On Tuesday, they proved as much, using a seven-run fifth inning to turn a 5-2 deficit after four frames into an 11-8 road win over crosstown rival and regional stalwart Wylie.

With the victory, CHS — which posted a combined district record of 7-27 from 2022 to 2024 — is now tied atop the 4-5A standings with Abilene High, which routed Wichita Falls Memorial 13-0 in the league’s other opener Tuesday.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Abilene High softball opens district play with blowout win over WF Memorial

Coming off a 3-1 win over Class 6A No. 6 Midland High on Thursday to close out its nondistrict schedule, the Abilene High softball team kept the positive momentum going Tuesday, opening District 4-5A play with a resounding 13-0 home victory over Wichita Falls Memorial.

The Lady Eagles, who dropped five of six games from Feb. 25 to March 1, have now won three straight — a streak that started March 4 with a 12-0 run-rule win over San Angelo Central. 

AHS’ latest win, which was never in doubt as the Lady Eagles scored at least two runs in every inning and got a one-hit shutout from Avah Reyes, improved coach Jenna Aguirre’s squad to 9-7 on the year and placed the Lady Eagles atop the 4-5A standings with crosstown rival Cooper, which downed Wylie 11-8 in its district opener.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gordon’s Stryker Reed earns this week’s accolade

At the Class 1A level, where it is common for athletes to participate in multiple sports at the same time due to a lack of numbers, individuals who excel in different disciplines are invaluable. 

At Gordon, junior multi-sport star Stryker Reed falls into this category, and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week is now demonstrating it on the heels of an amazing effort. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Lady Loboes open district with important win over area power Bangs

CISCO — The District 7-2A softball race started in a big way on Tuesday, with Bangs and Cisco (both projected to challenge for the league title) going head-to-head in the league opener for both clubs.  

Battling through windy, dusty conditions, Cisco did the better job of adjusting to the elements and came away with a 10-6 win at CHS. 

Aubrey Corpus was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Cara Arnold was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles to lead Cisco (10-4, 1-0), which blew the game open with a five-run third inning. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Eula’s Hailie Cauthen earns this week’s spotlight

Fresh off a successful basketball season, Eula’s Hailie Cauthen has transitioned to softball as though she were in mid-season form. 

In fact, the senior shortstop was good enough through five games last week to take our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the Week ending March 8. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stephenville’s Gentry lands the top spot

While Stephenville’s Tristian Gentry is no stranger to this column, it’s usually via football that he lands in our Top 10 — especially after missing track last year due to injury.

Well, it’s track season again and it just so happens that the SHS senior is healthy this time around — returning as one of the area’s top guns in that sport. He’s already off to a great start, having captured four gold medals at a talent-loaded Brock meet last week.

Aside from first place leaps in the long jump (21-1) and triple jump (43-2), he also helped SHS’ 400 and 800 relay teams take gold with splits of 43.26 and 1:30.1, respectively. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Munday freshman captures this week’s top spot

Munday’s Caisen Lee isn’t the first freshman to whom we’ve given our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award. But during the basketball playoffs, it is indeed a rare occurrence. 

Nonetheless, Lee takes our top spot with a pair of top notch efforts in playoff wins over Aspermont (77-48) and Westbrook (48-36).

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stamford softballer takes the top spot

For two years, Stamford’s Emma Follis has been one of our area’s elite softball players, both as a pitcher and a hitter. 

Last week, Follis picked up right where she left off a year ago, notching a 3-1 record in the circle with 35 strikeouts at the Slaton Tournament. 

She was even better at the plate, hitting .714 with a triple, four homers and nine RBIs. 

At this rate her numbers could be staggering by season’s end. And keep in mind, many of these games were shortened to accommodate the tournament schedule. 

In several shortened games Emma came out hot in the circle and at the plate,” coach Sean Slavis said. “We are pumped to finally be playing again!”

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Utility Players

After recognizing the top pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders that the Big Country softball scene has to offer, we close our position rankings series with a celebration of versatility.

For the final installment in our five-part series, we take a look at the top utility players, ranking our top-10 multi-position standouts to watch in 2025. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these lists and encourage you to come back next week when we’ll feature the top baseball players in the Big Country.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Outfielders

After spending the first three days of our softball position rankings series in the dirt, we move the grass for Day 4.

For the penultimate installment of our five-part series, we take a look at the top outfielders in the Big Country, ranking our top 10 with others to watch in 2025.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Infielders

After highlighting the top pitchers and catchers on the Big Country softball scene the past two nights, it’s time to turn our spotlight to the field.

For the third installment in our five-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 infielders in the area for the 2025 season.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Catchers

After kicking off our softball position rankings series on Wednesday with the pitchers, we now shift our attention to their battery mates.

For the second installment in our five-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 catchers with others to watch for in 2025.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Pitchers

With the softball season beginning this week, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area in 2025.

For the first installment in a five-part series that will cover all position groups on the area softball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top pitchers, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this spring.

We hope you enjoy reading through our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Cooper receiver Alexander, softballers Fry and Ruiz make commitments official

Coming off a huge senior season as a rare two-way player for Cooper, Zavian Alexander announced Wednesday afternoon that he’ll be taking his talents to Central Texas for the next stage of his football journey.

Joined by CHS softballers Maddie Fry (Hardin-Simmons University) and Emma Ruiz (Nelson University) at a Signing Day ceremony at Cougar Gym, Alexander made his college decision official by confirming his commitment to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Alexander’s pledge to the Division III national power in Belton comes after putting up the second-most productive season ever by a Cooper receiver on his way to earning first-team all-District 2-5A Division II and second-team All-Big Country Preps recognition.

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by Evan Ren

SIGNING DAY 2025: Top area athletes sign on the dotted line

National Signing Day is typically a busy one in the Big Country Preps’ coverage area and 2025 was no exception with several players inking and/or confirming their commitments to play at the next level. 

At various signing ceremonies held throughout the area, athletes celebrated their final choices to pursue a degree while competing collegiately. 

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Hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 23): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 23.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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by Evan Ren

FALL SIGNING DAY: Area athletes put pen to paper, make college decisions official

The fall national signing period opened Wednesday, and a number of athletes throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area either made their college decisions official at signing day ceremonies or have announced plans to do so in the near future.

Here’s a list of those area seniors and where they’ll be competing next season:

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by Evan Ren

2024 All-Big Country Preps Softball Team: Superlative Award Winners

Here are our superlative award winners for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Evan Ren

2024 All-Big Country Preps Softball Team: Second-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

Here are our second-team selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Evan Ren

2024 Big Country Preps Rising Stars Softball Team: The top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2024 All-Big Country Preps Softball teams. 

Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.

For the rest of this year’s softball selections, please click the links below.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Coahoma survives another war, takes home second straight 3A title

AUSTIN — Less than 24 hours after surviving an 11-inning state semifinal with Whitesboro that took every ounce of energy his team could muster, Coahoma coach Alex Orosco had a two-fold challenge on his hands.

Not only did his Bulldogettes have to recover quickly to play for the Class 3A state championship on Thursday, but a difficult Grandview team was standing in the way of CHS winning a second straight title. 

Somehow, someway, Coahoma met both challenges — finding the energy in sweltering Austin heat to defend its championship with a 3-2 win over the Lady Zebras in eight innings. 

Brynn Rodgers was 2 for 4 with an RBI double to drive home Abi Rose for the game-winning run, and Hannah Wells tossed a six-hitter through eight innings to lift the Bulldogettes, who finished their season with a perfect 32-0 mark. 

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