Mineola + Defending Champion Lufkin Hudson Square Off in All-East Texas State Championship Game

Class 3A

State Championship

Mineola Lady Jackets (31-8)

vs.

Lufkin Hudson Lady Hornets (37-7-1)

10 a.m. Saturday (June 1), Red & Charline McCombs Field, Austin

How they got here

Mineola

• Bi-District: def. Spring Hill 2-0 in series (W 8-1, W 19-2)
• Area: def. Crandall 2-0 in series (W 18-1, W 10-3)
• Region II quarterfinals: def. Henderson 2-1 in series (L 5-3, W 7-4, W 3-2)
• Region II semifinals: def. Frisco Lone Star 2-0 in series (W 11-1, W 7-0)
• Region II finals: def. Van 2-0 in series (W 11-6, W 14-6)
• State semifinal: def. La Grange, 7-1

Lufkin Hudson

• Bi-District: def. Groesbeck 2-0 in series (W 10-1, W 10-0)
• Area: def. Lorena 2-0 in series (W 2-0, W 3-2)
• Region III quarterfinals: def. Robinson 2-1 in series (L 2-1, W 10-0, W 8-4)
• Region III semifinals: def. Sweeny 2-0 in series (W 4-1, W 2-0)
• Region III finals: def. West Columbia 2-0 in series (W 2-0, W 3-2)
• State semifinal: def. Burkburnett, 9-5

Probable starting lineups

Mineola (semifinal stats in parenthesis)

• 1. Britney Johnson, SS, Sr. (2-for-4)
• 2. Rikkilyn Hass, P, Jr. (2-for-4)
• 3. Marisa Ledkins, 2B, Sr. (0-for-4)
• 4. Morgan Catron, C, Jr. (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R)
• 5. Jade "Sister" Green, 3B, Soph. (0-for-2, BB, R
• 6. Ali Galaz, CF, Sr. (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 5 RBIs, 3 R)
• 7. Manda Wilmoth, LF, Soph. (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs)
• 8. Maddie Wood, 1B, Sr. (0-for-4)
• 9. Kassy Skinner, RF, Soph. (0-for-1)

Lufkin Hudson (semifinal stats in parenthesis)

• 1. Alyssa Pierce, CF, Fr. (0-for-4)
• 2. Cassidy Brasuell, 2B, Sr. (0-for-4, BB, R)
• 3. Kelsee Selman, P, Sr. (2-for-4, HR, RBI, R)
• 4. Bryli Lee, SS, Soph. (2-for-3, HR, 3B, RBI, 2 R)
• 5. KK Parker, RF, Jr. (2-for-4, RBI, 2 R)
• 6. Alyssa Dotson, 1B, Sr. (0-for-2, 2 BB, R)
• 7. Madison Jeffrey, DP, Soph. (1-for-4, 2 RBI, R)
• 8. Ashley Davis, C, Jr. (1-for-4, RBI)
• 9. Madison Selman, LF, Jr. (2-for-4, RBI)

Probable starting pitchers

Mineola (semifinal stats in parenthesis)

• Rikkilyn Hass, RHP, Jr. (7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K -- 88 pitches)

Lufkin Hudson (semifinal stats in parenthesis)

• Kelsee Selman, RHP, Sr. (7.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 8 K -- 134 pitches)

Quoteworthy

• Mineola senior outfielder Ali Galaz on playing for a state championship: “It is so awesome. The girls that weren’t even here last year, they have the drive for us to go even further. And it’s just awesome to have girls that are so hungry.”
• Mineola coach Jana Nance on junior pitcher Rikkilyn Hass, who was called for several illegal pitches in the Lady Jackets' semifinal win: “She said, ‘I can’t do anything else, coach.’ And I said, ‘well then, pitch your game.’ There was sometimes I could see it, but I think that’s just part of pitching. Whenever you’re using your power with your legs, every pitcher does that. I know that they’re going to be paying attention to that kinda stuff, we’re just going to have to fix it.”
• Lufkin Hudson coach Jimmy Eby on his state championship game opponent: “They’re good, I mean everybody’s good here. We’ve got a shot.”
• Eby on his team's offense, which scored nine runs in their semifinal win after averaging five runs per game in the playoffs: “We swing the bats pretty good, we’ve just got to get confidence. Once we get confidence, we can hit, we swing the bats pretty good.”

Did you know?

• Lufkin Hudson scored seven runs in the final two innings Thursday against Burkburnett, which had not given up more than six runs in a game all season.
• The Lady Hornets have scored a total of 12 runs in their seven losses this season. Five of their losses have been by one run.
• Mineola, which competed in 2A the previous seasons, is the smallest of the four 3A teams that qualified for the state tournament with an enrollment of 453.
• Three of the Lady Jackets' four seniors have signed to play softball in college -- Britney Johnson (Southern Arkansas), Ali Galaz (Texas Woman's University) and Marisa Ledkins (Kilgore College).