Never before has a softball team from Lewisville made it to the UIL State tournament. The best in Texas will face off in Austin today and Saturday, with the Famers [29-13] starting with San Benito [34-2] in the 6 p.m. semifinal at Red and Charline McCombs Field at the University of Texas at Austin.
The games go from a tournament series into single game elimination. If the team wins Friday night they will advance to the Final game on Saturday. The team will play either Kingwood [34-3] or defending state champ Deer Park [37-4] if they advance to Saturday’s final.
The Farmers have jumped to first in the state and 5th nationally, according to Maxpreps.com’s computer rankings. The Lady Greyhounds, from a city of just over 24,000 in the Rio Grande Valley region in the southern tip of Texas, are 8th in the state and 42nd in the nation, according the same rankings.
Deer Park is 6th in state and 23rd in nation while Kingwood is 2nd in state and 8th in nation, according to Maxpreps.com.
San Benito’s top player is junior pitcher Amber Jasso. Jasso has a 23-1 record as a pitcher and is also leading the team in batting average at .571. She is known for having a good riseball pitch.
San Benito went 7-0 in the playoffs leading up to tonight’s game. The team was involved in a lawsuit on their way to state. After the first game of a series with Eagle Pass was postponed to the next day due to lightning, it was determined that the teams would have to shorten their series to one game, rather than the best-of-three format, as UIL rules don’t allow teams to complete three games in the same day. San Benito won the game and the series, but Eagle Pass filed an injunction that was dismissed by a judge just hours before the Lady Greyhounds next playoff series began.
In the seven games the Lady Greyhounds have played they have scored 26 runs and given up 11, with four shutouts. In the Farmers’ 12 games, they have scored 78 runs and given up 26, with four shutouts as well.
Alvin High School in 2008 is the only fourth-seeded team to win a state softball championship. The Farmers could be the second.
Fans who cannot make the trip to Austin can either follow the team on Twitter @FARMERSsoftball or watch the game live on Fox Sports Southwest.
