Community Champion: Chapin softball on the verge of return trip to Elite 8

The Chapin softball team is on the verge of history yet again.

The 2017 squad made it to the Elite 8 (regional final), marking the best-ever result for the program in the state playoffs.

Now, the 2019 team is one win away from matching that result. The Huskies will meet Little Elm High School Thursday in Lubbock in a single elimination game to determine who goes to the 5A regional final.

You can catch highlights of that game Thursday night on ABC-7 at 10 o’clock in sports.

Chapin fell a little short of their goals in 2018, eventually falling in the second round of the playoffs. But last year’s disappointment has only lit a fire under this year’s team.

“I think that’s what motivated us to go so far this year and what’s been pushing us and motivating us throughout the season, just so we can come out stronger every game,” said infielder Lexi Morales. “It feels great. I mean, we have a great team, and we’ve been working hard all season to get to this point.”

The Huskies have combined talented young players with exceptional veterans this year, and that combination has enabled them to outscore their opponents by a 32-6 margin over the first three rounds of the playoffs.

“Honestly, the underclassmen are something else,” said senior pitcher Kristin Fifield. “They’ve grown so much from the beginning, and they’ve gotten us to this point. And I think that they’re the reason why we’re here.”

The Huskies are the last local team still standing in the state softball playoffs in Texas.

They hope they’ll still be standing next week as one of the final eight teams in 5A across the entire state.

“A lot of people doubted us at the beginning of the year because they knew we had Kristin, but we were replacing some people that had been here for a long time,” said head coach Kevin Mills. “But it seems like every game somebody different steps up for this group.”