The Brookeland Lady Cats softball team played for the Class 1A State Championship in a Saturday morning game against the defending State Champions, the Jonesboro Lady Eagles. The game was played at McCombs Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was a game of momentum shifts that fell just short for the Lady Cats.
Jonesboro scored a single run in the first inning, but Brookeland stranded two runners in the bottom of the inning. Jonesboro then scored three runs in the top of the second inning and once again the Lady Cats got two runners on base but could not bring them home. Jonesboro led 4 to 0. A couple of Lady Cats errors in the third inning allowed two more runs for the Lady Eagles heading to the bottom of the third inning.
Brookeland would finally shake off the weight of the game and begin to deliver. Paige Powell led off with a walk as did Relea Bennett, both would score and Brookeland cut into the lead now trailing 6 – 2. Powell shut down Jonesboro in the top of the fourth inning allowing one base runner, but no runs. When Brookeland came to bat Lakyn Mott reached first after being hit by a pitch. Laney Shepherd hit an RBI double that scored Mott. Kaelyn Strother hit an RBI single that scored Shepherd and the Lady Cats then trailed 6 to 4. Powell came up to bat and hit an RBI triple scoring Strother and Brookeland had closed to within a single run 6 to 5. There were no outs when Bennett came to the plate and hit what appeared to be a sacrifice fly that tied the game with Powell coming home. But Powell was called out for leaving the base early on the out. The score was 6 to 5 and then the inning ended. Powell once again shut down the Lady Eagles to bring the Lady Cats back up to bat. Elisabeth Lundquist singled, Carlee Justice Walked and Mott singled. Shepherd delivered with a single that scored two runs and Strother singled to knock in a third run in the inning and put Brookeland in the lead with an 8 to 6 score after five innings.
Momentum would swing back to Jonesboro as the Lady Eagles retook the lead, scoring three runs to make the score 9 to 8. Brookeland went three up and three down in the bottom of the sixth inning sending the game into the seventh and potential final inning. Powell delivered with a three up and three down inning. The Lady Cats first batter lined out on a sharply hit ball to the Jonesboro third baseman. Mott would deliver with her second hit of the game. Shepherd hit a single but a pinch runner for Mott overran third base and was tagged out trying to get back to third base, That was out number two and the Lady Cats were down to their final out, but a win was not meant to be as the game ended with the tying run stranded at second base.
The Jonesboro Lady Eagles claimed their second consecutive Class 1A State Championship with a 9 to 8 decision. Brookeland’s Lady Cats are the 1A State Runner Up. Thar is quite an accomplishment as this was the Lady Cats first appearance in the state championship game. The Lady Cats have plenty of talent that will be returning for the 2025-2026 school year as Cierra Justice and Laney Shepherd are the only two graduating seniors on the team in fact there are no juniors on the team. Seven sophomores and four freshmen returning players will mean that the Lady Cats have to be considered heavy favorites for being highly ranked to begin next season and to be on track to return to Austin once again a year from now for a chance to bring home the state championship trophy.
KJAS congratulates Head Coach Mckenzie Vaughn and her assistant coaches Brittani Parker and Kaylyn Loving and the entire roster of this Lady Cats team they have played so well in the playoffs, and they have done so with grace and class. KJAS also thanks Brookeland ISD and its administration for allowing our station to take the ride through the playoffs with the softball and baseball teams. Special thanks also goes to the sponsors who have made the broadcasts possible.
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