San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Judson, D’Hanis eye return to state
After coming up short of capturing state championships, Judson and D’Hanis look to finish the job this season.
Both return a majority of their starters, so it looks favorable for now. Who else is poised to make a state run?
Here’s a look at how things stack up for the 2022 season that begins Monday.
Judson set up for another historic run
Rockets coach Theresa Urbanovsky prefers to fly under the radar.
That won’t be the case this year as the Rockets return six starters, including 2021 Express-News Player of the Year and Texas A&M signee Keely Williams, off a squad that lost 1-0 against Deer Park in last year’s Class 6A state title game.
Judson (35-3) advanced past the third round for the first time in program history a year ago. There’s no reason to think the Rockets won’t surpass that feat again.
Judson returns four starters — Williams, second baseman Mimi Thornton (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), pitcher Emily Ayala (St. Mary’s) and third baseman Destiny Rodriguez (Tennessee) — who combined for 44 of the Rockets’ program-record 60 home runs last year.
Williams, who played for Team USA’s under-18 squad last fall, hit .653 with 19 home runs, 20 doubles, eight triples 54 RBIs and 29 stolen bases (in 29 attempts) from the lead-off spot.
Thornton batted .492 with nine home runs and tied Williams for the team lead in RBIs (54). Rodriguez was .462 with seven home runs. Ayala, who hit .325 with nine home runs, was 25-2 with 107 strikeouts and had a 2.26 ERA in 149 innings from the pitching circle.
Will a state championship rematch occur? Deer Park, which returns four who started in last year’s state title game, enters the season at No. 1 followed by Judson in the Texas Girls Coaches’ Association preseason poll.
D’Hanis looking to ride to state again
The Cowgirls have advanced to three straight UIL state tournaments and are in line to make it four in a row after graduating only one from the squad that advanced to the Class 1A state title game.
D’Hanis (18-8-1) returns fourthyear letterwinner Marissa Santos, a pitcher who was the state championship game MVP when the Cowgirls won it when she was a freshman in 2019.
Santos was 16-6-1 and struck out 150 in 110 innings. She also hit .545 with 36 RBIs.
Sophomore catcher Kayla Looper had no problems handling the varsity level last year with a .676 average with four home runs and 46 RBIs. Junior shortstop Mabry Herrmann, the district’s defensive MVP last year, was also strong at the plate, hitting .574 with and scoring 40 runs.
The Cowgirls’ state runs precede Santos’ arrival. D’Hanis advanced to the 1A state semifinals in 2018, won the title in 2019 and lost to Dodd City 8-4 in last year’s 1A championship. (There was no season in 2020 due to the pandemic).
Other Class 6A contenders
While it’s easy to shoo-in Judson for a long playoff run, it won’t be easy. The Rockets were on the brink of elimination before rallying past Round Rock 7-4 in a one-game third-round playoff last year. Judson defeated O’Connor in three games after losing the opening contest in the regional semifinal round.
Teams with dominant pitchers usually make long postseason runs.
MacArthur has arguably the best returning pitcher with senior Madison Collins (Tarleton State), a fourth-year starter who struck out an area-leading 235 in 1401⁄3 innings in 2021. She was 19-6 with a 1.50 ERA. Collins was equally effective on offense, hitting .456 with seven home runs and 44 RBIs as part of a District 28-6A MVP season.
The Brahmas return seven starters which also includes another four-year starter Bryley Westfahl, a utility player who hit .402 and Collins’ battery-mate, junior Gabby Sosa, who hit .494 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs.
MacArthur is motivated after losing to East Central in three game in the first round of the 2021 playoffs.
Clemens’ Analisa Soliz (Texas State) had 136 strikeouts with a 2.89 ERA. East Central senior Holly Ayala was 16-9 with a 1.59 ERA and 79 strikeouts. Both compete in District 27-6A with Judson.
Boerne counting on experience
Eight Greyhounds return from a team that fell one round short of the UIL Class 4A state tournament. That includes three who hit better than .500 during last year’s 31-8 season.
Senior shortstop Brooke Sivek (Texas A&M-Kingsville) hit .589 with 35 stolen bases. Junior centerfielder Taryn Madlock (UTSA) was .519 with five home runs and 22 doubles.
Junior second baseman Cameron Cooper (Longwood) hit .517 and scored 50 runs. In addition, senior third baseman Madison Dorrow (Blinn) hit nine home run with a .441 average.
Junior pitcher Ava Rodriguez (East Texas Baptist) was 16-3 with 102 strikeouts. Dorrow also pitched and was 13-3.
The Greyhounds, who won a title in 2007 in their only state tournament appearance, lost to Corpus Christi Calallen in two games in last year’s regional finals.