Convenience Big Store: State softball: Kingwood revives softball legacy while Liberty adds another chapter

May 30, 2024

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Kingwood revives softball legacy while Liberty adds another chapter

It's been 11 years since Kingwood softball has reached this point. Meanwhile, the Liberty Panthers are set to add to their state tournament legacy.

The UIL state softball tournament in Austin is filled with storylines as action for the pair of Houston-area teams heats up over the next three days.

On Friday night, Kingwood (37-7) is in the UIL state softball tournament for the first time since 2013, when it was runner-up to Lewisville. The Mustangs, winners of 23 straight games and off an impressive sweep of No. 1 nationally-ranked Katy in the Region III-6A championship last week, are now tasked at cooling off Waco Midway (33-5), a team with just two losses since the beginning of March.

The Mustangs will lean on their powerful bats. Kingwood has hammered out 20 home runs over the past five rounds of the playoffs and 58 total on the season. Eight Mustangs have hit home runs this season. Four have 10 or more: freshman Hunter Quentel (12), junior Arizona commit Addyson Sheppard (11), junior Northwestern State commit Leilani Garcia (11) and Gagliardi (10).

Kingwood has also benefited from a softball lifer taking over the program last offseason. Head coach Christa Williams-Yates was a two-time state champion as a player 30 years ago at Dobie and went on to an All-American collegiate career at Texas.

This evening, Liberty (40-2) returns to the Class 4A tournament for the fourth consecutive year and are looking to lift the trophy after dropping to Corpus Christi Calallen last year in the state championship. The Panthers take on Canton (32-8) with the possibility of playing Calallen again for the on Saturday if all goes well for both teams in the semifinals.

Panthers head coach Karen Slack has work hard in building a softball dynasty in rural Liberty County over the past two decades. A fourth state championship since 2018 is within reach.

Check out the full state tournament schedule and 10 players to watch.

Follow all our coverage at houstonchronicle.com/highschoolsports.

Rob Tate, Deputy High School Sports Coordinator

rtate@houstonchronicle.com

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