Softball: Lady Highlanders fall in region finals

HOUSTON, Texas – It was over before it got started.

The Woodlands High School softball team fell 8-1 to Klein Collins Friday night in the Region II-5A championship game at the University of Houston.

The District 13-5A champion Klein Collins Lady Tigers scored seven runs in the first inning and cruised past the defending state champion and No. 1 state-ranked Lady Highlanders. Klein Collins (30-4) will be making its first-ever trip to the state tournament, joining region champions Deer Park, Northside O’Connor and Plano East next weekend in Austin on the campus of the University of Texas.

Klein Collins managed seven first-inning runs on just three hits but was also aided by five walks and an illegal pitch.

The Woodlands (30-5) equaled Klein Collins’ hit total of eight, but only Sidney Salmans was able to get past second base. Salmans scored the lone run for The Woodlands on a fourth-inning single from Kayla Prater.

Alyssa Jorgensen led the Lady Highlanders’ attack with three hits. Aubrey Leach, Abby Langkamp, Faith Bohack and Paige McDuffee, who did not pitch an inning all season, added a hit apiece

The loss marks the end of the greatest two-year stretch in the history of The Woodlands High School softball program.