Lady Highlanders overwhelm Lady Cavs

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - After watching The Woodlands come away with a thrilling 3-1 victory in the first round of District 14-5A play, most softball fans were expecting another donnybrook when the two teams met for the second time on Tuesday night at College Park High School.

Instead, the Lady Highlanders showed exactly why they have won the district championship, compiled a perfect 11-0 district mark and earned one of the state’s highest rankings as they pounded the Lady Cavaliers 16-0 in five innings.

“We really hit the ball tonight,’’ admitted The Woodlands head coach Richard Jorgensen, who watched his state-ranked Lady Highlanders improve to 27-2 on the year. “We hit the ball the first time we played them, but most of our hits were right at them. And they made some tremendous plays. They have some very good athletes on that team.’’

The best athlete, however, belonged to the Lady Highlanders on Tuesday night.

Junior Abby Langkamp, who has verbally committed to play at Baylor, pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts before giving way to Caitlin Bartsch, who struck out five of the final six batters of the game in the fourth and fifth.

Langkamp also was 4-for-4 at the plate with three doubles and two RBIs.

“She is the total package,’’ Jorgensen said of the talented left-handed pitcher. “She hit some rockets tonight.

“We also had good pitching,’’ he added. “We have been doing that (rotation) with Abby and Caitlin for three years now. It has been a great combination for us.’’

College Park had two hits in the game, a single in the first from Nikki Giles and a single in the third by Breanna Skinner.

Chelsea Dowell also blooped what looked like a single into right field to start the Lady Cavs’ second, but The Woodlands’ freshman sensation Emily Langkamp threw her out at first base.

After scoring one in the first, The Woodlands broke open the game with four runs in the second, highlighted by a two-RBI single from Sidney Salmans.

The Lady Highlanders, behind Aubrey Leach’s RBI single, increased the lead to 7-0 in the top of the third and then erupted for nine runs in the fourth. The frame was highlighted by Abby Langkamp’s two-run double and Aubrey Leach’s bases-clearing double.

“We have a good combination of speed and power in our lineup,’’ Jorgensen said. “We really keep the other defense on their heels.’’

The Lady Highlanders will conclude the season by hosting Oak Ridge at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Woodlands beat Oak Ridge 11-0 the first time the two teams met.

College Park dropped to 6-5 in district play and is battling Bryan and Lufkin for the third and fourth playoff spots in the district.