AND THEN THERE WERE THREE | Gilmer, Henderson, Troup advance in softball playoffs

It was playoff time for high school softball last week – and the first round was tough for softball teams in the ETBlitz.com coverage area. Arp, White Oak, Gladewater and Overton all said goodbye, finishing their respective 2025 seasons.

Henderson, Troup and Gilmer all advanced, though, and will continue to compete in the University Interscholastic League’s postseason this week.

A the dust settles after week one of the softball playoffs, let’s see what’s coming for who’s left.

Henderson: The Lady Lions, like almost everyone else, were washed out last Thursday in their first game against Van, in a series that was just home-and-home.

The first game started, but only made it to the third before officials had to postpone it.

So both games were played Friday night. And Henderson took care of business when play resumed.

Chloe Ellis took over – literally – in game one on Friday, and the Lady Vandals just couldn’t solve the puzzle. By the time Ellis was through, she had struck out 10, walked three and didn’t allow a single hit to 23-win Van in shutting out the Lady Vandals, 4-0.

In game two, Henderson won, 7-5, and closed the series out.

Now, coach John White’s Lady Lions (30-8-1), winners of eight straight, will face Nevada Community (14-4-1), who knocked Pleasant Grove from the playoffs last weekend.

They’ll do it again in a best-of-three-game series. It’ll be played in its entirety at Athens High School, beginning Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Henderson is the home team for game one.

Friday night, game two will begin at 6 p.m., and if they need game three, it’ll follow very shortly after game two ends.

By the way, Ellis also hit the 500-strikeout mark in those games against Van.

Game one was far from easy. The teams were scoreless for five innings.

Henderson took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jacie Boothe singled, then Karis Lee came on as a courtesy runner – she’d advance to second on a sacrifice bunt by Colbie Rountree, then two batters later, scored on a grounder by Kristina Jackson.

Jayda Brown had singled before Jackson’s grounder, then she and Taniya Vanzandt (who singled) both scored on a RBI double by Addi Standley (3-0).

Before Van could get out of the inning, Addi Davis put a fly ball into play and reached on an error that also scored Standley, wrapping up the game’s scoring (4-0).

In game two, Henderson trailed early, 2-0, after the first inning, but only briefly: in the top of the second, Jayda Brown tripled and then scored on another RBI grounder by Jackson (2-1).

After Vanzandt reached on an error, Standley got a hit, and then Davis scored both she and Standley on a double, putting the Lady Lions in front, 3-2.

Henderson went up 4-2 in the fourth, then saw Van answer with two runs in the fifth. This time, it left the teams in a 4-all tie.

McKenna Moon broke that tie with a 2-RBI triple in the sixth (6-4 Henderson), scoring Jackson and Standley, and then Ellis followed with a single that scored Moon for the 7-4 lead. Van would get another run, but the Lady Vandals couldn’t catch Henderson, who had swept the series.

Boothe went 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, two walks and rolling up four strikeouts. Ellis came on for the final 2 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts (13 total in two games against Van), allowing three hits and two walks.

Gilmer

Coach Keirsten Seahorn’s Lady Buckeyes went to Pine Tree High School in Longview on Thursday, didn’t get to play their 4A-DI series against Lindale, and had to go back twice, on Friday and Saturday.

Gilmer would take both games. They won the first, 7-5, as we chronicled on Friday night. Alexis Kemp had 12 strikeouts in a complete-game win. In game two, Gilmer beat Lindale, 4-3.

That one went to extra innings. Tied at 3-all after seven, Livi Brown managed a single, and Nevah Ferrer came on as a courtesy runner. Ferrer then advanced on a grounder by Lily Henson. Two batters later, with two outs in the books, Brie Jones hit an RBI single that scored Ferrer, a walk-off win.

Jayna Rucker had a home run earlier in the game, with 2 RBI. Brown had a double and a single, and Jones finished with three singles, Henson, two.

Kemp threw five innings, striking out one and walking two. Kaydence Smith came on in relief for three innings, with one strikeout, but allowing no runs.

Gilmer (23-4-2) now faces Sulphur Springs (26-7) in the area / second round. Sulphur beat Wills Point, 11-2, in game one, then ran all over WP, 27-6, later Friday night in game two for the series sweep.

Information on that series wasn’t immediately available; as soon as ETBlitz has confirmation on the when and where, we’ll have an update.

Troup

After beating Edgewood in game one of their series in Lindale, 8-3, on Thursday night – one of the few games that rainy night that actually got played – the Lady Tigers needed one more win in game two to close it out.

They got it.

Taylor Gillispie, who pitched the first game Thursday and got a win, was on the money again, this time holding Edgewood to just two hits in a 6-0 game two victory, ending the series.

Gillispie hit a home run and had 2 RBI for the Lady Tigers (27-5). Heather Longino had a single and an RBI, and Olivia Anderson, Shiloh Sluder and Makayla Spencer each had an RBI.

Troup moves on to round two, the area round, and will meet DeKalb next. They’ll play that series at Longview High School, and it starts on Thursday night. Troup is asking its fans to wear black for a Tiger Blackout in game one, a 6 p.m. start Thursday.

Game two will be Friday, also at 6, and that night, Troup fans are asked to wear maroon (Maroon-out). And Saturday, if needed, there will be a third and deciding game at noon.

DeKalb (28-4) beat Harmony in a sweep, as well, outlasting the Lady Eagles 11-7 in game one, and 4-0 in game two.

Arp

Arp’s Lady Tigers won game one over Grand Saline in a series that was also played in Lindale, 2-0, as we covered here on ETB last weekend.

But Grand Saline bounced back for a win in game two (7-1), and then won the third and deciding game three, 6-3, on Saturday.

It’s shocking, but Arp’s season is done – the Lady Tigers finished with a 26-7 record.

In the 7-1 loss, Hannah Martindale had a single and an RBI, and Neci Potts and Aubry Way each had a double. Lacy Fletcher pitched and threw seven innings, with eight strikeouts.

In the 6-3 game-three loss, Addison Carpenter had a double and 2 RBI. Way had a double. Maddie Birdsong and Pitts each had two singles and Pitts had an RBI.

White Oak

Mineola had won game one of this best-of-three 3A, Division I series on Thursday in Winnsboro, and unfortunately for White Oak and the Ladynecks’ fans, MHS also won game two – they plated 10 runs in the bottom of the second, just too much for White Oak to overcome.

White Oak finished 2025 with a 14-14-1 record.

All of the Ladynecks’ hits in game two were singles, a hit each by Kylie Caraway, Jaidyn Marshall, Addison McClanahan, Kinnadie Rayson and Grace Heairet.

Gladewater

The Lady Bears ran into a bit of a buzzsaw at Tyler Legacy High School late last week, falling 17-2 to Malakoff, who advances on in the 3A-DI playoffs to meet Hughes Springs this week.

Gladewater, who had finished District 16-3A in fourth place, finished up the 2025 season with a 10-16-1 record.

Overton

The Lady Mustangs’ season is also over, somewhat shockingly, after a pair of Friday and Saturday losses at Athens High School.

Cross Roads had 10 hits in a 7-3 win on Friday, then held the Lady Mustangs to no hits, and won 10-0 on Saturday.

In the next-to-last game of their season on Friday, Bryleigh Nelson, just a freshman, had two hits: a home run and a double. She also had 3 RBI.

Kelsey Vaught, a sophomore, had a hit, as did Mason Fenter, and Anna Perkins, both juniors.

Overton finished its season with a 16-14-1 record.