Lewisville softball draws on past state championship experience in playoff push
Lewisville won its first softball state championship in 2018.
After six consecutive seasons of deep playoff runs and three 20-win seasons in a row, the Lions finally broke through in their first trip to the final.
Six years later, Lewisville finds itself in a familiar position: Coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons that ended in state championship series losses, this year’s Lions find themselves at 15-4, having won a third-consecutive undefeated region championship.
The team has continued to win this season despite losing four seniors from the year before, and the players have been doing their best to learn on the fly.
“I’ve got three eighth-graders in the mix right now, so we’re a little bit young with only two seniors and then about two for each class,” Lewisville head coach Jerry Thomas said. “Right now, it’s just the growth. We’re developing our youth right now from last year. It’s not the same team as last year’s. There’s good and bad with everything, but right now, it’s just the youth, but each week, we’re getting stronger and stronger.”
One of Lewisville’s learning experiences came early in the week. After going nearly three years without a regular-season loss to a Class A team, the Lions put up just four hits in a 2-1 road loss to Whitmire on April 17.
The following day, Lewisville traveled up I-77 to take on Fort Mill, and found its offense. The Lions scored eight runs in the first inning and cruised to an 18-6 victory, the most runs the Lions have scored in a game all season.
That offensive performance is what Thomas wants to see from his team more consistently, especially later in the season.
Lewisville is 1-4 combined in the past two best-of-three state championship series, scoring a combined 11 runs in those five games. Its lone win was a 1-0 result in Game 1 of the 2023 state championship series against Hannah-Pamplico.
“What we did (against Fort Mill) was stay consistent with the bats, faster feet and just play good defense,” Thomas said. “We got a solid defense. We make mistakes here or there, but as a whole, I think we’re a pretty solid defense front behind a strong sophomore pitcher. With everybody getting behind her and getting the bats going, I think we’ll be fine. We got as good of a chance as anyone to go back.”
Thomas said he was pleased to see how his team bounced back following a tough loss to Whitmire, but he does not want his team to forget about that setback. In fact, he wants the opposite.
“We need to remember that, remember where we were (after the loss to Whitmire) and not backslide,” Thomas said. “Biggest thing I’m trying to hit on is stay hungry. We got to stay hungry. If we want to go back, we’ve got to stay hungry.”
Lewisville will wrap up its regular season with two final home games. The Lions will play Legion Collegiate Academy on April 23, and Rock Hill on April 24. First pitch for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m.
