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Like tennis players checking out the draw for Wimbledon, local softball coaches Billy Hicks and Enrique Luna couldn't help but study the bracket for the UIL state playoffs.
As the first- and third-place finishers from District 13-5A, A&M Consolidated and Bryan landed in the same portion of the Class 5A Region II bracket. If the Lady Tigers and Lady Vikings both reach the third round of the playoffs, they will meet again.
Another edition of the Crosstown Showdown would cause the type of excitement usually reserved for trips to the state tournament. But Consol and Bryan can't afford to look beyond their first-round series.
The 13-5A champions from Consol (22-10) will play Round Rock Stony Point (13-10), the fourth seed from 14-5A. Their best-of-3 series will be played at the Waco ISD complex, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, with one or two games to follow Friday night.
Bryan (19-11) will open the postseason against a Leander team seeded second from 14-5A with a record of 18-9 overall. Their series will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Leander, with the second and possible third games to follow in Bryan on Friday.
Consol enters with momentum: The Lady Tigers won their first outright district championship in four years, finishing league play with an 11-1 record. Consol is on a nine-game winning streak and has won 12 of 13.
"We've been on a roll," Hicks said. "We're going in on a good note. I just hope we can continue the momentum."
Stony Point qualified for the state playoffs for the first time in school history, beating Pflugerville in the last game of the regular season to secure the bid.
"I don't care if they are the fourth-place team, they deserve to be there," Hicks said "They've got a pitcher who's really good. They only gave up 29 runs in district play."
Consol senior pitcher Jessica Chastka (15-5) has been dominant at times, posting an 0.90 earned run average with 210 strikeouts in 140 innings.
Leadoff hitter Ashley Heritage ignites the offense with a .388 average and 20 stolen bases. Catcher Sarah Allison also is hitting .388 and has driven in 19 runs to share the team RBI lead with Kristen Moehlman. Casie Westbrook is batting .352.
Tickets will be $4 for adults and $2 for students.
The Consol-Stony Point winner will advance to the area round to face Spring or Conroe Oak Ridge.
Lady Vikings like matchup: Leander finished in a three-way tie with Round Rock and Westwood for the 14-5A championship. Bryan won the only meeting between the teams this year, taking a 6-5 victory on a bad-weather day in San Antonio.
"I think we're in good shape," Luna said. "We've got some young players who haven't been on the field in the playoffs before, but they were on the bandwagon last year that rode all the way to the regional finals. They know the expectations here. Anything less than three rounds, that's unacceptable."
The Lady Vikings split two league games with Belton and dropped a pair of one-run decisions to Bryan, allowing Belton to take the higher seed.
Senior catcher Calli Wood drives the Bryan offense, leading the team with a .510 average, 41 RBIs and a school-record 10 triples.
Michelle Stratta is the Lady Vikings' top pitcher. Stratta is 12-6 with a 1.85 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 90 2/3 innings. She also is a vital part of the offense, batting .407 with 34 runs batted in. Ashley Lara is hitting .380 with 22 RBIs.
Tickets will be $5 and $3 at Leander, but $4 and $2 at Lady Viking Field.
Winner of the series will face Magnolia or Tomball in the second round.
Bi-district matchups set: State-ranked teams from the area with first-round byes are Brenham in Class 4A, Franklin in 2A and Iola in Class A.
Brenham will await the winner between Houston Sterling and Houston Stephen F. Austin.
Franklin will take on either East Bernard or Vanderbilt Industrial.
Iola will be matched against Burton or Thrall.
The other bi-district pairings involving Brazos Valley schools will send Madisonville against Lufkin Hudson at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sam Houston State in 3A, with Centerville facing Arp in a best-of-3 series that starts Thursday in Malakoff and Lexington to play Rosebud-Lott at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Rockdale in 2A.
Class A will pit Normangee against Sabine Pass at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in New Caney, along with Bremond taking on Spurger at 6 p.m. Thursday in Willis.
In the private school ranks, Allen Academy has qualified for the TAPPS Class 2A playoffs and will face Victoria Faith Academy or Alvin Living Stones Academy. Allen will host the playoff game at Central Park on Saturday at a time to be determined.
Franklin on fire before playoffs: Top-ranked Franklin (27-1) stepped up in class and defeated Fairfield 9-5 in a warm-up game Tuesday. Class 3A Fairfield is playoff-bound after going undefeated in district.
Franklin's Kayce Walker and Ashley Klores kept cranking out the hits, both going 4 for 4. Klores collected a double, triple and two RBIs.
Walker has been the Lady Lions' ace pitcher, but she signed with Baylor as a position player, likely to be an outfielder. A good hitter with outstanding speed, Walker has an on-base percentage of more than .900.
• Larry Bowen covers softball in the Brazos Valley. If you have something of interest to report, e-mail him at larry.bowen@theeagle.com.
