Freshman phenom Bella Flores leads Flower Mound to Game 1 win in softball state semifinal

MIDLOTHIAN — Flower Mound’s Bella Flores doesn’t get rattled by adversity, even though she is a freshman pitching on the biggest stage in Texas high school softball.

That was evident once again Thursday, as Flores saw her no-hit bid end when she allowed a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the fourth as Waco Midway cut Flower Mound’s lead to one run.

Despite facing an opponent that was on a 21-game winning streak, Flores kept her composure and allowed only two harmless singles the rest of the way as Flower Mound beat Midway 5-2 in Game 1 of a best-of-3 Class 6A Division I state semifinal series at Midlothian’s Don Floyd Stadium. Playing in the state semifinals for the first time since 2021, Flower Mound needs one more win to advance to the state championship game in Austin for the first time in school history.

“There is nervousness, but once you get settled and once your team is behind you and you trust them, you feel fine,” Flores said. “My team, they are really ive, and they really helped me through it. They said, ‘We are still up, you’ve got it.’ You just have to feed off the other team’s energy.”

Flores pitched a three-hit complete game and struck out nine against a Midway team that was the Class 6A state runner-up last year and hadn’t lost since March 1. With Flower Mound clinging to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth and a Midway runner on second with two outs, star shortstop Adi Bicknell made a running, over-the-shoulder catch on a pop fly that was headed to the outfield to end the threat, and Flores retired the next six batters to close it out against a Midway offense that averages 10 runs per game.

Flores is now 20-5 with a 1.82 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 138 1/3 innings.

“She has great poise for a freshman,” Flower Mound coach Mark Larriba said of Flores. “She was nervous a couple of games, but today she was spot on and was locked in. She gets better and better. She is a stud.”

Flower Mound (27-8-2) improved to 7-0 in the playoffs and broke out to an early lead after loading the bases on three straight infield singles in the top of the third after the first two hitters in the inning were retired. Sophomore Daphne Galason stepped to the plate and hammered a ball deep to center field that bounced off the wall 220 feet away for a three-run double that gave Flower Mound a 3-0 lead.

“I knew that we needed some RBIs to get those runners to score, and I just took a deep breath, looked for my pitch and hit the ball,” said Galason, who now has a team-high 42 RBIs on the season.

Was it the biggest hit of her career? After pausing for a second, Galason said, “No, but it was a good hit.”

Flores retired the first 10 hitters she faced before walking Harper Haas with one out in the fourth and then surrendering a two-out, two-run homer to Jayden Sadler that made it 3-2. Flores’ teammates gave her some breathing room in the top of the sixth as Avery Brock hit an RBI single and pinch hitter Macy Seidel delivered a sacrifice fly to extend Flower Mound’s lead to 5-2.

Midway (29-3) was two outs from winning the Class 6A state title last year, leading Weslaco 9-3 with one out and nobody on base in the bottom of the seventh in the championship game. But then came one of the most improbable comebacks in UIL softball history, as Weslaco rallied to score eight runs in the inning and won the state title on a walk-off grand slam to beat Midway 11-9.

But Midway is used to the pressure that comes with this time of year, as it is in the state semifinals for the 12th time and is trying to win its third state title. It will try to avoid elimination in Game 2 of the series at 2:30 p.m. Friday back at Don Floyd Stadium.

Aubrey 3, Snyder 1: Molly Reid hit a two-run home run in a three-run bottom of the first and Aubrey completed a two-game sweep of a Class 4A Division II state semifinal series at Stephenville High School.

Aubrey (33-3) has won 11 in a row and will play Robinson or Ingleside in the state championship game at 10 a.m. May 30 at the University of Texas’ Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin. Robinson and Ingleside will play the decisive third game of their semifinal series Saturday.

It will be Aubrey’s first state final since 2007, when it was the 2A runner-up, and Aubrey is trying to win its first state title. Mya Cherry pitched a four-hitter and struck out six for Aubrey, and Addison White had a two-out RBI single in the big first inning. For the series, Cherry allowed one run and struck out 10 in 14 innings.

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