Lady Highlanders are Austin bound

WACO, Texas – What a difference a day makes. After combining for 23 runs on 28 hits in the series opener on Thursday, The Woodlands High School softball team engaged Rockwall in a pitcher’s duel on Friday at Getterman Stadium on the campus of Baylor University.

Lady Highlanders junior lefty Abby Langkamp got the better of it and The Woodlands completed a sweep of the Region II-5A finals playoff series with a 2-1 decision. And they did it in walk-off fashion.

Fittingly, it was Aubrey Leach who drilled a bases-loaded single with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, breaking a 1-1 tie, with courtesy runner Roma Thorton crossing the plate.

Leach led the attack in last night’s 14-9 Game 1 victory with a 5-for-5 night.

The Woodlands (38-3), ranked No. 1 in the state, wins its second title in its fourth consecutive region finals appearance. In doing so, the Lady Highlanders extend their playoff win streak to six games. They’ve won 29 of their last 30 games.

The Woodlands advances to the UIL Class 5A State Tournament for the first time since winning it in 2011. The state tournament will be held at McCombs Field in Austin on the campus of the University of Texas. The 5A semifinals games are scheduled for 3 and 6 p.m. Friday with the state championship game set for 4 p.m. Saturday.

Langkamp (25-0) scattered six hits in going the distance.

The Woodlands jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, manufacturing a run without the benefit of a base hit. Sidney Salmans drew a one-out walk, stole second and moved to third on the second out of the inning. She scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch.

Langkamp worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the top of the second – coaxing three straight ground outs to preserve the lead. She wiggled out of a similar spot in the fifth inning, loading the bases with no outs before getting three consecutive short fly balls to keep the score at 1-0.

Brittany Mann, as she did the previous night, came up with the big defensive gem in left field making a diving catch to end the inning.

The Woodlands missed a bases-loaded opportunity in the third inning. Consecutive one-out singles from Amy Cimera, Leach and Salmans – the first hits of the game for the Lady Highlanders – went for naught.

Rockwall finally broke through and tied the game, 1-1, in the top of the seventh inning with a triple over the heads of a Lady Highlanders outfield playing shallow in hopes of cutting down a Lady Yellow Jacket runner already on second base.

But that only set the stage for a dramatic finish.

Langkamp worked a walk to open the bottom of the seventh inning and Thorton ran for her at first base. Mann bunted for a single and Emily Langkamp bunted both runners into scoring position. Cimera battled at the plate and it resulted in a walk that filled the bases.

Leach ended the drama with a line single, scoring Thorton, and enabling the Lady Highlanders to seek a second state championship in four years.