The epic playoff series pitting the Tomball Lady Cougars against The Woodlands Lady Highlanders in the Region II finals May 26-28 lived up to the hype, even though the results weren’t what Tomball had hoped for.

The two area softball powers faced off in a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Austin, which was held last weekend.

The Lady Cougars (34-3), ranked No. 3 in the state and No. 15 in the nation, were looking to earn their second consecutive trip to the state tournament and sixth overall, while The Woodlands (41-0) was the top-ranked team in the state and the nation. The Lady Highlanders were seeking their first-ever state tournament berth.

The first game of the series was held May 26 at Tomball High School. With the game tied at 3-3 going into the seventh inning, the Lady Highlanders plated two runs in the top of the inning to take a 5-3 lead from which Tomball could not recover.

Game two shifted to The Woodlands High School on May 27 where the Lady Highlanders were looking to wrap up the series and earn a trip to Austin.

Early on it looked as if the Lady Cougars would earn a blowout, if not a surprising win over The Woodlands. Up 9-2 going into the seventh and final inning, the Lady Highlanders started a furious rally, which included a Jessica Snyder home run.

The Woodlands pulled to within one, making it 9-8, but Tomball head coach Benita Dunlavy turned the pitching duties over to Renada Davis, who was able to get the last outs and save the win for Tomball.

The win by Tomball in the second game evened the series and forced a deciding game three, which was held May 28 at Magnolia High School. Just as in the previous two games of the series, the contest saw lead changes, rallies and clutch performances by standout players.

The Lady Highlanders went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning, but the lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the second, Tomball scored a pair of runs to go up 2-1. But again the lead was short-lived.

The Woodlands plated four in the third and four more in the fourth to take a 9-2 lead. But just as the Lady Highlanders had in game two, the Lady Cougars fought back, scoring two in the fourth and three more in the fifth to cut the lead to 9-7.

But that’s as close as Tomball would come, as the Lady Highlanders kept the Lady Cougars scoreless for the final two innings on their way to the series win.

Tomball finishes their season with a 34-6 overall record and the Lady Highlanders went to Austin with a 43-1 mark.

The Woodlands went on to win the state title, beating San Antonio O’Connor.

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