The Cypress Christian Warriors softball team finished the season with its fourth consecutive trip to the TAPPS Final Four, where the team finished as state runner-up.
The Warriors came out swinging in their semifinal game against annual rival Holy Cross with a season-best offensive explosion, beating the Knights 23 to 12. Junior Megan Smith led the attack with four hits, including a homerun and four RBIs. Freshman Katelyn Bienko also had an inside-the-park grand slam, finishing the day with a team-best seven runs batted in.
The semfinal victory set up a championship game rematch with the Brook Hill Guard, the team the Warriors beat last season for Cypress Christian’s first state softball championship.
Brook Hill jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run opposite-field homerun by Karmen
Miller. Miller, Brook Hill’s starting pitcher, kept Cypress Christian’s bats at bay, holding the Warriors to just three hits on the day. Warriors’ third baseman KK Smith had a pair of doubles, and senior shortstop Sarah Olenick also delivered a line drive single, but the Warriors’ hopes of a late rally came up short, and Brook Hill held on for a 3-0 win in the title game.
Audrey Petrowski, Megan Smith, KK Smith and Sarah Olenick were named to the TAPPS All-State Team. Petrowski was the winning pitcher in the victory over Holy Cross and only allowed two earned runs in the championship game. KK Smith led the team with six hits in the state tournament. Megan Smith hit for the cycle in the semifinal win, and Olenick contributed three hits and several outstanding defensive plays in the two games.
The Warriors, playing an extremely tough schedule this season, finished the year with a 19-14 record. In addition to their runner-up finish at the state championship, CCS won its district softball title for the fifth straight season.
