AUSTIN — When is a three-time reigning state champion overlooked?
Maybe when it graduates one of the best two-way players in its classification.
That’s how the Coahoma softball team felt, anyway. The Bulldogettes’ self-produced introduction video before the title game against Santa Gertrudis Academy included perceived slights against the program — seemingly predicting the fall of Coahoma’s latest dynasty.
The team’s presence at McCombs Field was evidence enough to refute that.
The Bulldogettes didn’t secure a record-setting fourth consecutive state championship, but coach Alexander Orosco said the season showed the program didn’t suffer as some expected after the graduation of Texas signee Hannah Wells.
“People wanted to schedule us so that they could beat us,” Orosco said. “And here we are, with a state (runner-up) trophy with state medals around our necks.”
Coahoma won state titles the past three years with Wells at the forefront. The three-time championship MVP is now making an impact as a freshman with the Longhorns. As of Monday, she’s pitched 45 innings and also hit 15 home runs.
With new faces in the circle, including title-game starter Kyndal Lee, the Bulldogettes still managed to reach Austin for a fifth-straight season. Coahoma finished 27-5 after the 8-1 loss to SGA on Thursday.
It was the Lions’ second state championship and first since 2018. They finished 41-4.
“It’s a tall mountain to climb, whether you’ve done it one time or five times,” Orosco said. “It doesn’t get any easier because you’ve done it before. Santa Gertrudis are the kings of Region IV, and they’ve been the kings of Region IV for a long time. We knew that coming in. Man, they were hungry.”
The Bulldogettes will be faced with a similar scenario next season. Coahoma will once again lose a player to Texas, as catcher Mia Clemmer signed to join her former high school teammate.
Clemmer, along with Addi Hart and Bentli Wright, made the all-state tournament team. Hart also graduated, but Hart and Wright are set to return to continue chasing the program’s high standards. As Thursday’s video said, the annual expectation is to reload rather than rebuild.
Orosco said being targeted is part of what defines Coahoma softball.
“It shapes you into who you are when times are tough,” Orosco said. “We get to play a game, and we get to overcome adversity and overcome difficult things. If we can do that here, we can send these kids out into the real world and let them know that they can face hard things.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Coahoma softball dismisses talk of downfall with latest state final
Reporting by Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
