Three teams return as champs
Lady Falcons ride Janes’ three RBIs, one-hit shutout
Katy, Angleton and Huffman Hargrave win it all at the state softball tournament in Austin, bringing a trio of titles to the Houston area.
AUSTIN — When Huffman Hargrave won its first state champion in 2015, its current roster watched during a break from classes at Huffman Middle School.
Nearly four years to the day later, that group celebrated its own state championship, beating Anna 12-0 in a six-inning run-rule shortened Class 4A final Saturday at McCombs Field.
“It was amazing, to say the least,” said junior Katy Janes, who was named the 4A final MVP after pitching all six innings, allowing two baserunners, giving up one hit to Anna (25-9-1) and striking out 11 batters. “The environment playing here, the amount of fans that came out to watch us, it was incredible. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
Janes went 2-for-3 at the plate, with a double and a two-run homer.
That double was part of a threerun top of the first for the Lady Falcons. Sophomore designated player Hagen Pike singled up the middle to drive in senior shortstop Alli Humphries. Janes’s double scored Pike, and sophomore first baseman Christin Haygood’s single up the middle brought Janes home.
“It was a huge relief. There were almost no nerves at that point,” Janes said of taking the circle for the first time with a three-run lead.
Hargrave added to that early lead with three runs each in the third, fifth, and sixth innings.
The Lady Falcons combined for 12 hits with Janes, Pike and junior right fielder Kenzie Gates getting two hits apiece. One of Gates’ hits was an RBI triple in the fifth inning.
Hargrave had to take part in a three-way tiebreaker at the end of its regular season to determine the second through fourth seeds from District 21-4A.
It entered the playoffs as the second seed and went 12-1 in the postseason on the road to its state championship, outscoring opponents 83-13 along the way and allowing no runs in the state tournament (shutting out Fredericksburg 4-0 in the semifinals).
“I always refer back to our district,” coach Garrett Gates said. “As tough as our district is, when we got to the postseason, we knew we could handle the pressure situations.”
The players came out to the street next to McCombs Field where they celebrated with their waiting friends, fans, and families upon the culmination of their banner 38-1-1 season.