Softball: Lake Creek Faces Elimination After Loss To Barbers Hill

CYPRESS, TX — Lake Creek came up short for the first time this season Wednesday night, and now just one more loss will send the Lions packing.

Third-ranked Lake Creek committed a couple uncharacteristic errors in the seventh inning, and No. 2 Barbers Hill capitalized with three runs to beat the Lions 3-0 in the opener of the Class 5A Region III softball championship at Cypress Ridge High School.

The teams will meet again at 5 p.m. Friday at Cy-Ridge for the remainder of the series. Lake Creek (38-1) will have to win both ends of a doubleheader to advance to the UIL 5A State Tournament. Barbers Hill (39-2) is vying for its fourth state tournament appearance and first since 2018, while Lake Creek is making a bid for its first appearance in just its second full season as a program.

Barbers Hill came into the game with a 33-game win streak dating to Feb. 27. Lake Creek's 42-game win streak, which started in 2020, was snapped Wednesday.

“We just didn’t make the plays we had been making,” Lake Creek head coach Michelle Rochinski said. “We got a little in our own heads, and we haven’t done that all year. Thirty-nine games in, I guess that was going to happen, but that kind of stuff can’t happen when you’re playing that caliber of team.”

Nine-hole hitter Kaitlyn Dutton got Barbers Hill’s seventh-inning rally started with an infield hit on a close play that had Rochinski out to talk to the umpire. A Lake Creek throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt put runners at second and third, and both scored when Delaney Dunham hit a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop and a throwing error got away from the catcher. Dunham advanced to second on the error and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on another sac bunt to make it 3-0.

Lake Creek made a rally of its own in the bottom of the frame as Caelee Clark and Madelyn Lopez drew back-to-back walks to open the inning and chase starting pitcher Sophia Simpson. Ava Brown drew a walk against Samantha Landry, but the Barbers Hill reliever struck out the next three batters to end the threat and preserve the shutout.

Simpson, a Texas signee, tossed a gem, allowing just three hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts over six-plus innings.

“Those two girls have carried us all year long,” Barbers Hill head coach Aaron Fuller said. “That’s the kind of game I expected. I was telling people all week it might be tied 0-0 in the 12th inning.

“You win Game 1, you can’t have a Game 2 lull. The series isn’t over yet, especially against a team like that.”

Lake Creek starting pitcher Emiley Kennedy, who is signed to play at Texas A&M, matched Simpson for most of the night, allowing just four hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. All three of her runs were unearned.

Kennedy got out of several jams and kept Barbers Hill from taking the lead in the second, third and fourth innings. With one out in the second, Kennedy struck out two batters to leave two runners stranded. In the third, Barbers Hill got a pair of two-out singles and a walk to load the bases, but Kennedy induced a ground ball to escape the jam. Kennedy did it again in the fourth when a two-out walk and an error put runners on the corners before she got a strikeout to get out of it.

With Simpson and Kennedy the starters for the opener, the likely starters in the second game are Landry, who is committed to the University of Louisiana, and Lake Creek sophomore Ava Brown. Simpson and Kennedy will likely be needed in the circle again Thursday, especially if the Lions can force a third game.

“I’m not sure we played Lake Creek softball tonight, but we have to reset, come back ready to play Games 2 and 3 tomorrow and be ready to go,” Rochinski said. “This is what it’s all about. This is the regional final, and these are two great teams.”