Eagles, Panthers see softball seasons end in region semifinals
Written by Erich Eisenach
One team was looking to get back to the state tournament after losing in the state semifinals and one was playing in its first regional semifinal, two rounds away from a state tournament.
However, both the Atascocita Eagles and Kingwood Park Panthers saw their softball seasons come to an end in the 6A and 5A Region III semifinal rounds, respectively.
After making it to the state tournament a year ago but losing to Keller, Atascocita finished with the second seed in District 21-6A this year behind Kingwood.
And in the playoffs, the Eagles quickly dispatched Pasadena Dobie, Pearland Dawson and Pasadena Memorial to go 5-0 through the playoffs' first three rounds.
However, in the regional semifinals, Atascocita met its match against Katy, a team widely considered one of the best teams in the state, if not the best team. The Tigers also hadn't lost in over two months; their last loss was March 4.
In both games, Katy jumped out to big leads, 7-1 in the first game and 5-0 in the second game, on the way to 8-2 and 5-2 wins which sent the Tigers to the regional finals to meet Deer Park for the right to go to the state tournament.
Meanwhile, the Kingwood Park softball program, with its triumph over Crosby, made it to the 5A region semifinals for the very first time ever. There, they met the Willis Wildcats in a hard-fought, three-game series.
Unfortunately for Park, Willis took the series in three hard-fought games.
After the Panthers opened the series with a 3-0 win at home, Willis responded on Friday with a come-from-behind 4-3 win in Game Two.
Then, in the decisive third game, the Wildcats used a pair of four-run innings to erase an early 1-0 deficit and held on from there for an 11-8 win. With the win, Willis moved on to the regional finals to meet Barbers Hill.
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Author: Erich EisenachEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I am proud to be this area's Tribune Newspaper voice for Humble, Atascocita, Kingwood, Kingwood Park and Summer Creek High School athletics, a capacity I have served in since the fall of 2011. High school sports are something I have grown to love since I started in this position, watching young kids live out their dreams in competition throughout the area and throughout the state. My greatest thrill in this position was being on Floor Eight at NRG Stadium in December of 2016 when Atascocita High School qualified for the state football semifinals for the first time. Aside from reporting sports, I am a regular parishioner of St. Martha Catholic Church of Kingwood. I am also a two-time graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications, and am a proud, but realistic, Nebraska Cornhuskers supporter. I do root for Houston's local sports teams, but the Huskers are my team forever.
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