Katy came so close.

The Tigers did everything they could to keep their season alive on Friday. They rallied from a deficit, they kept their spirits up and they pushed until the final out of the game, but in a regional final decided by the slimmest of margins it wasn’t enough. Katy did everything It could, but the Tigers ultimately fell 7-6 to Kingwood in game two of the Region III-6A Final, ending the Tigers season just short of another state appearance.

“Today didn’t go the way we wanted but I’m still so proud of every single person on this team,” said senior center fielder Ashtyn Reichardt. “This isn’t how we expected it to go but every person in that dugout, starter or not, gave everything they had. We all played our part, it just ended up being barely not enough.”

Kingwood picked up where it left off on Thursday, scoring three runs in the top of the first on two solo home runs from Leilani Garcia and Mia Gagliardi. Gagliardi added another run in the third inning on an RBI single and Kingwood added a fifth later in the inning on an error to take a big early lead.

Katy though fought back and trimmed the deficit immediately after in the bottom of the third. Maddie Smith led off the bottom of the third with a walk and Ashtyn Reichardt launched a 2-run home run to right center field to trim the deficit. Hailey Gore then hit a single and then stole second to get in scoring position and Montgomery Henderson made it a two run deficit by hitting a bloop single that drove in a run.

Both teams went back to their ace pitchers after the third inning, and Katy kept fighting to to get back into things. The Tigers got a runner on in the fourth and then loaded the bases in the fifth, but weren’t able to get a run across either inning. Kingwood loaded the bases as well in the bottom of the fifth and the Mustangs took advantage as Garcia hit a 2-run single that gave Kingwood a four-run lead before Katy got out of the inning. The Tigers kept up the fight and nearly pulled off an incredible comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Reichardt started off the inning with a walk and Hailey Gore reached on a fielder’s choice, Kingwood got two straight outs after that before Ella-Kate Smith stepped to the plate and hit a 3-run bomb of a home run to left field, trimming the deficit to one. A fly out then ended the game as Katy came just a run short of completing the comeback.

“This group of girls has worked really hard and I was just really hoping we’d find a way to overcome this and force a third game, but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Katy head coach Kalum Haack. “When the moments this big you have to raise your level and we just didn’t hit as well as we needed to hit and we didn’t pitch as well as we needed to pitch. We had some opportunities, but that’s part of sports.”

The Tigers season comes to an end with a 39-3-1 record and the Tigers furthest trip in the playoffs since 2019. There will be some big losses to graduation form the senior class, but there is also lots of talent returning and expectations will remain as high as ever.

“I just want these younger girls to not take any moment for granted,” Reichardt said. “You never know when this is going to end and you have to treat every day on that grass like it could be your last. This obviously wasn’t where we expected our season to end but this group embodied that. That’s what I would leave these underclassman with, just don’t ever take it for granted.”