Crawford softball headed back to state for fourth consecutive year

Published: May. 28, 2023 at 11:36 PM CDT

WAXAHACHIE, Texas (KWTX) - Led by Crawford senior Kenzie Jones’ no-hitter performance on Saturday against Trenton in the regional finals, the Lady Pirates are headed back to the 2A State Tournament in Austin for the fourth straight year in a row.

The Lady Pirates will have a chance to win their third state championship in the last four seasons.

In the regional finals, Jones no-hitter performance, which included 11 strikeouts, gave her win number 30 on the year for her as Crawford shutout Trenton, 7-0, at Waxahachie High School.

They will head to Austin this week for the state tournament. Though seniors like Jones have been to state every year at Crawford, it is still an unbelievable feeling that they’re back again.

“It’s kind of surreal,” said Jones. “I don’t think I’ve actually said that we’re going back to the state tournament again, but it’s exciting.”

Even Crawford softball coach Kirk Allen was a bit in shock and even feeling emotional after the regional final win.

“Obviously, you want to win this thing, but getting there and just getting to have this experience one more time is just an awesome feeling,” said Allen. “I get emotional just thinking about it, but we still have some work to do.

The Lady Pirates will open the state semi-finals against Weimar on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Red & Charline McCombs Field (UT Austin).