Coahoma going to 2nd straight state tournament

The Bulldogettes (34-3) advanced to their second straight UIL softball state tournament and will meet the Region III-A champion (Franklin or Grandview) on Wednesday at Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin.

Coahoma is two wins away from a state championship after it lost in the 2022 state title game.

One day after the Bulldogettes blanked Lamesa 10-0 behind a no-hitter from Wells, Coahoma pounced on Lamesa (21-6) with three runs in the first inning and four in the second to take a 7-0 lead.

Lang socked a two-run homer in the first. Lang, a senior center fielder, finished the series with seven RBI.

“Our lineup is stacked, bottom to top,” Lang said. “It doesn’t matter who’s up, bases loaded. We’re confident whoever is up in the batter’s box is going to get us those extra runs.”

In the second, Nevaeh Kerby drilled an RBI double off the left-field fence; Christian Everett followed with an RBI single, and Wells lined a two-run home run off the scoreboard in left.

Wells went 6-for-7 with a walk in the series.

“I honestly expected nothing less,” Everett said. “We did start a little slow, but in my head and in our heads, we know it will be OK because we’re going to punch and we’re going to hit them hard.”

The Golden Tors got their first hit of the series in the bottom of the second when Amaya Vasquez led off with a double and scored on an RBI single from Zoey Sifuentes to cut the deficit to 7-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Lamesa had its best chance when it loaded the bases against Calvio.

Calvio followed with a strikeout to leave the bases loaded.

“When it bases loaded when we had two outs, it was nerve-racking,” Calvio said. “I know if they hit the ball, my defense is going to help me. I know even if they hit it, we’re going to come back up and come back on top.”

Calvio also stranded two runners in the third. She allowed one runs on four hits and two walks over four innings, while striking out three.

“She did a great job,” Coahoma head coach Alexander Orosco said of Calvio. “I’m proud of her. She’s the reason we wanted to play a series. Lamesa wanted one game, we wanted a series and for that reason, we’ve got girls that can play, and they deserve to play. We’re always thinking about how we can put our girls in positive situations, and it happened today. I’m very proud of Makayla.”

Added Calvio: “It’s the best feeling ever. I know that my team has my back no matter what. They were pushing me. I knew that I wasn’t going to struggle. It’s just an amazing feeling going back to state again.”

Coahoma had a backbreaking seven-run fifth, while sending 11 batters to the plate.

All seven runs scored with two out.

Baylor Wright and Everett both contributed with RBI doubles; Wells and Lang both had two-run singles; and Brynn Rodgers provided an RBI single of her own.

Wells, pitching the fifth in relief, struck out the side to secure the Bulldogettes’ second straight regional championship.

Coahoma scored runs in eight of the 10 innings of the series and in its first seven frames of the series.