The 2011 high school softball playoffs kicked off over the weekend with the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs and the Tomball Lady Cougars both looking to make return trips to Austin and the state tournament.

Each squad began their regional title defenses with first round best-of-three series.

Tomball took on the Humble Atascocita Lady Eagles beginning on Friday, April 29 in Humble. Game Two of the series took place on Saturday, April 30 at Tomball High School.

Magnolia faced the New Caney Lady Spartans in a similar format, with Game One being held at New Caney High School and Games Two and Three (if necessary) at Magnolia.

By earning the higher seeds in the playoffs, the Lady Cougars and Lady Bulldogs earned the home field advantages. Results of each of those series were unavailable at press time last week.

The winner of the Magnolia-New Caney series will face either Port Neches-Grove or Crosby in the second round of the playoffs this week. The winner between Tomball and Atascocita will face off against Round Rock Stony Point or Austin Bowie in the second round.

Magnolia and Tomball will be hoping to at least repeat their 2010 success when both squads went through their respective regionals unscathed to reach the state tournament.

Tomball lost in the state semi-finals to Austin Bowie, 9-1. The Lady Bulldogs nearly captured their second state title, losing 1-0 to Waco Midway in extra innings.

The Lady Cougars finished the regular season 23-3 overall and a perfect 14-0 in 13-5A, capturing the district title.

Magnolia finished second in 18-4A with an 11-3 district record. The Lady Bulldogs earned the district’s No. 2 seed by beating Brenham, 5-2, in the regular season finale.

Both teams spent much of the season ranked among the top five teams in the Houston area.

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