CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Calallen Lady Cats (33-2) softball team punched their ticket back to the UIL 4A State Championship after defeating Sanger (37-8) 8-1 on Thursday at the University of Texas at Austin.
"I think we started with our bats on fire," Megan Geyer, Calallen senior shortstop, said. "Then as the game went on we got our bats even more on fire."
Geyer led the Lady Cats going 3-for-4 at the plate. She doubled in the sixth, singled in the fourth and singled in the first. Senior Alaunah Almaraz got things started in the first inning with an RBI triple. Brookelyn Meador, Audryna Almaraz and Mia Flores also added RBI's.
"It's awesome you know I feel like we just pushed through it," Alaunah Almaraz, Calallen third baseman, said. "It feels amazing just to be back because we worked so hard and we want it. We want it again. Hopefully we go back to back. We will go back to back."
Calallen sophomore Jordyn Thibodeaux held off Sanger by dealing 8 strikeouts in 7 innings, while only allowing 5 hits and 1 run.
"We made adjustments and we played really good defense," Geyer said.
Calallen will play Liberty in the State Championship on Saturday at 10 a.m. at UT Austin. A matchup against Liberty would be Calallen's third State Championship meeting in four years against them (2021, 2023 and 2024).
Fans, family and alumni unable to attend can watch the UIL Softball State Championships live online with a subscription at https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/associations/uil. Subscribers can also watch on the go or at home through the NFHS Network mobile app available through iTunes or the Google Play Store, and TV app available on Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV.
Coastal Bend State Tournament Appearances
Calallen - 2024, 2023 (State Champions), 2021 (Runner-Up), 2019 (Runner-Up)
Santa Gertrudis Academy - 2023 (Runner-Up), 2018 (State Champions), 2017 (Runner-Up), 2016, 2013 (Runner-Up)
Sinton - 2001, 1999
Beeville - 2018, 2017, 1997
Gregory-Portland - 2016 (Runner-Up), 2000
Bishop - 2021
George West - 2010 (State Champions)
