The state softball tournament in Austin this weekend will have a decidedly local flavor after both Tomball and Magnolia won their respective regional tournaments for an opportunity to play for a state title.

The Lady Cougars in 5A and the Lady Bulldogs in 4A are each one of four teams that earned a trip to Austin to vie for a class state title.

The state tournament will begin Thursday for teams in 1A, 2A and 3A. The semi-finals for 4A and 5A will begin Friday, June 4. Magnolia will take on the winners of district 27-5A, the New Braunfels Canyon Cougarettes (34-3), at 2 p.m.

Tomball will face the runners-up of 25-5A, the Austin Bowie Bulldogs (28-13), at 8 p.m. June 4.

All state playoff games are one-game series.

Should either, or both, Magnolia and Tomball win their state semi-final games, they will play in the title game Saturday, June 5. The 4A championship tilt is scheduled for 5 p.m., while the 5A finale is set for 8 p.m.

Joining Magnolia in the 4A bracket is Waco Midway (34-5-1), the champions of district 16-4A, and Denton Guyer (34-5-2), 5-4A winners.

In the 5A group, the other two teams are perennial softball powerhouse Pearland, winners of 22-5A with a 35-6-1 overall record, and Lewisville Hebron, perhaps the biggest surprise of the 5A bracket.

Hebron narrowly qualified for the playoffs this year after finishing in fourth place in 6-5A. They have a 27-12 overall record.

To earn their trip to Austin, the Lady Cougars had to do so in dramatic finish. Except for their first round win over Conroe, Tomball took each of its final four series to a deciding Game Three, winning each one.

Like the previous two series, the Lady Cougars lost the opener of their regional final to Rowlett, 5-2. But Tomball rallied on Friday in Games Two and Three, shutting out Rowlett 5-0 and 1-0 to earn their fifth trip to the state tournament.

To qualify for its trip to Austin, Tomball won the Region 2 bracket by defeating Conroe, Round Rock Stony Point, Cedar Park, Mesquite Horn and Rowlett.

This is Tomball’s first trip to state since 2005, when they lost in the semi-finals. The year prior, the Lady Cougars made it to the state title game, where they were defeated by Fort Bend Elkins, 3-1.

The Lady Cougars’ first trip to Austin came in 1993, when they lost to Pasadena Dobie 1-0 in the state title game. They followed that up with another appearance in 1994, losing in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Magnolia has been on a tear in the Region 3 playoffs for class 4A. In their five series, they have lost just once, a Game Two contest against Nederland in the third round.

The Lady Bulldogs rolled through a bracket that included Buda Hays, Barbers Hill, Nederland, Santa Fe and Angleton, a squad who they swept by a combined score of 12-3 in the regional finals.

This is Magnolia’s second trip to the state tournament, having taken home the state title in 1999 when they knocked off Weatherford, 3-1.

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