AREA TEAMS INCLUDED: East Central.

By Mike Considine

This East Central softball team was the one that broke through the proverbial glass ceiling and made history.

In both of the two previous years, the Hornets (26-17) advanced to the area round. But with a supportive community behind them, East Central had more in store. For a program that had qualified for every postseason that was contested but once since 2011, the Hornets became the school’s first team to advance past the Region IV quarterfinals.

East Central fought to a three-game victory over defending Class 6A champion O’Connor (28-8) in the semifinals. Its season ended two wins shy of the state tournament as San Benito (41-5), No. 2 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association 6A rankings, swept the Hornets in the regional final. The Greyhounds won 11-1 in five innings in Beeville May 25 and 2-0 in Corpus Christi May 26.

“It makes us feel excited,” fourth-year East Cental coach Maggi Welham said. “It definitely gives us an expectation of what the postseason looks like now. I think the girls got something that’s extremely great.

“I think the young ones, for sure, were left wanting more. That’s very promising for our future.”

East Central was the first area UIL team to reach the Region IV finals since Southwest qualified for the Class 5A state tournament in 2014. Holy Cross won the TAPPS Division III state title in 2021 and 2022.

Along its journey, East Central received an overwhelming groundswell of support from parents, distant relatives, softball alumni and the community at large. Only San Benito, which lost to eventual champion Pearland June 2 in the state semifinals, was able to match its fanbase.

“Everybody in the community is so supportive That means so much to us,” Hornets junior catcher Bella Valdez said after the Region IV semifinal Game 2 win. “We know we can do it. We have confidence in each other, and in ourselves.”

Welham expressed gratitude for fans who toted Pittsburgh Steelers-style terrible towels, parents who set the tone, East Central’s administration and her coaching staff.

“I think it woke up our community,” Welham said. “It was very inspirational to feel their love – and the support was amazing.”

Ultimately, though, a mixture of hunger and belief from Hornets players facilitated the accomplishment.

“We’d been stuck at the area round the past two years,” said Hornets senior right fielder Bella Vidal, who received a softball scholarship to attend Concordia University. “This year, we decided to just do our best and not think about it. We owed it to ourselves to go further.”

Against San Benito, the Hornets scored their only run of the series in the first inning of Game 1 when they trailed by three runs. A single from freshman Izzy Estrada brought in Kyana Lipardo, who worked a leadoff walk. The Greyhounds outhit East Central 11-2 and put the game away with five runs in the fifth.

San Benito scored both of its Game 2 runs on Hornets throwing errors. East Central mustered seven hits, but wasn’t able to translate them into scores.

“They were a very strong hitting team,” Welham said. “We made some mistakes, not to take anything away from them. We’re a great hitting team, too. I knew from watching them play New Braunfels, it’d have to be a slugfest.

“We had hit so much and so well (in the first four rounds), but our bats ran out of steam in that series.”

Lipardo led off the game with a walk and stole second base but the Hornets’ first inning ended with a double play. East Central did not advance a runner past second..

East Central freshman pitcher Jenise Ramirez kept the Greyhounds scoreless until the second out of the fourth inning. San Benito increased its lead to 2-0 in the fifth.

“I think we outhit them in the second game,” Welham said, “we just didn’t get our hits together to push those runs across. The longevity of a postseason run got to us. It’s five weeks after your season ended.

“But the girls did a phenomenal job. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Five of the Hornets’ eight seniors signed to play college softball. In addition to Vidal, Bri Barreto chose Galveston College, Lorena Gamez selected Midland College, Avi Martinez picked St. Edward’s University and Erin Villela’s choice was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“I think they really left our program a heck of a lot better than they found it,” Welham said. “They put their stamp on it it. This season is something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.

“They’re a great group of girls. I’m so grateful to have them. Every one of them deserves it.”