The Tomball Lady Cougars and Magnolia Lady Bulldogs both eased into the second round of the state softball playoffs with first round victories.

Magnolia took care of Buda Hays in the 4A Region III bi-district round, while Tomball hammered Conroe in 5A Region II.

After finishing second in 18-4A behind Montgomery, the Lady Bulldogs took on the third place team from 17-4A, the Buda Hays Rebels, in a best-of-three series in Bryan.

Game One was held April 30 and saw each team’s ace take the circle, Magnolia’s Katy Adair and Hays’ Kaci Hoskins. The Rebels, playing as the visiting team, got to Adair early, scoring two runs in the top of the first. But the Lady Bulldogs answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 2-1, Hays.

It remained that way until the bottom of the sixth when Magnolia took the lead with a run. But the Rebels rallied and scored a pair in the top of the seventh off Adair for a 4-2 lead.

Facing a potential one-games-to-none deficit going into Game Two, the situation looked dire for Rene Bialas’ Lady Bulldogs. But Magnolia rallied in the bottom of the seventh, scored two more runs and won it, 5-4, in dramatic fashion.

The second game of the series was nearly as nail-biting. The Lady Bulldogs took the lead in the second with a run, but the Rebels tied it in the bottom of the third. Again Magnolia went ahead with a run in the top of fourth. Up 2-1 in the fifth, they expanded their lead with two more scores. Ahead 4-1, it appeared as if the Lady Bulldogs were in control.

But as Game One proved, no team was ever out of it. The Rebels plated three in the bottom of the fifth to tie it at 4-4. Neither team scored in the sixth.

Needing a win to end the series and advance to the next round, the Lady Bulldogs’ offense kicked into gear with four runs in the top of the seventh. Adair got the last three outs in the bottom of the inning and Magnolia earned a sweep of the series and second round match-up with Barbers Hill.

Meanwhile, following their first place finish in 13-5A with a 13-1 record, the Lady Cougars were paired with the Conroe Lady Tigers in the first round. The Tigers finished just 2-7 in 14-5A, but that was good enough to finish fourth in the five-team district.

Going up against a traditional state powerhouse in Tomball, the Tigers were overmatched. The Lady Cougars moved on with an 11-0 victory. With the win, Tomball advanced to the area round of the playoffs and took on Round Rock Stony Point in a best-of-three series last weekend at Bryan High School.

Results of both the Lady Cougars’ and Lady Bulldogs’ second round playoff match-ups were unavailable at press time last week.

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