The Dallas area has never produced softball state champions in three different classifications in the same season.
That could change this week, as Aubrey will play for the Class 4A Division II state title at 10 a.m. Friday, Melissa will be in the 5A Division I championship game at 7 p.m. Friday and Forney will compete for the 6A Division II title at 1 p.m. Saturday, all at the University of Texas’ Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin.
All three schools are part of boom towns and have seen their enrollments take off over the last decade, with Melissa’s number more than tripling in that time. Aubrey and Melissa are growing so quickly that they could move up to a higher classification in the next couple of realignment cycles.
“Forney has grown so big right now. We are still building houses out there like crazy, and the school is changing a lot with all of the people coming in,” Forney coach Pat Eitel said. “After we went to state a couple of times, then all of a sudden you saw the neighborhoods coming up like crazy. We knew it was just a matter of time before we moved up.”
Forney (34-2-1), ranked No. 18 in the nation, is in its first season in Class 6A after losing to Melissa in a 5A regional final last year. Forney, which saw its enrollment grow from 1,359 in 2014 to 2,482 for the UIL’s biennial realignment in February 2024, will play 21st-ranked Humble Kingwood (33-4-1) on Saturday and is competing at state in its fourth different classification.
Forney was a 3A school when it lost in the state semifinals in 1999, it was the 4A state runner-up in 2011 and a 4A state semifinalist in 2012, and it won the 5A state title in 2018 and was a 5A state semifinalist in 2019. There has been talk of possibly opening a third high school in Forney ISD, and the district’s website states that Forney ISD had more than 17,500 students for all grades as of June 2024 and is projected to enroll almost 27,000 students by 2029/2030 and could be pushing 37,000 students by 2034/2035.
“They’re talking like maybe six or seven years down the road, if that is going to happen,” Eitel said of a possible third high school. “I know for a while they were really talking about it because the boom was so big.”
With Cailey Slade, Eva Daniels, Emma Boren, Ashlyn Oscars and Ryann Harris hitting over .380 and Slade (17-0) and Emmie Santos (17-2) dominating with their pitching, Forney has won playoff rounds against Garland, Tomball and Denton Guyer, which have combined for 13 state tournament appearances and two state titles. This could be the start of something big for Forney, as Santos and team home run leader Domiana English are only sophomores and Harris is a freshman.
Melissa was a 2A school when it won state in football in 2011 — the first state title in a team sport in school history — but its enrollment grew from 457 in 2012 to 1,762.5 in 2024. Melissa won its first softball state title last year when it captured the 5A crown, and it has a chance to build a dynasty over the next few years as it prepares for a likely transition to 6A.
Melissa (37-1), ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps, has set a national record for most home runs in a season and has 121 going into Friday’s state title game against eighth-ranked Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill (35-3). Seniors have ed for only 35 of Melissa’s home runs, and next year Melissa will bring back junior Florida pledge Kennedy Bradley (24 home runs) and sophomores Finlee Williams (19 homers), Hutton “LuLu” Adrian (17), Izzy Gonzales (10), Rihanna Wheeler (seven) and Amariee Bradford (six) — who have combined for 83 home runs — in addition to star sophomore pitcher Eloisa Maes (31-1).
“I’m sure we will go to 6A fairly quickly,” Melissa coach Cassie Crabtree said. “It is a growing place, and the community is amazing and they us in whatever we need.”
Football coach Matt Nally provided more clarity on when Melissa could move up to the UIL’s top classification.
“We will be 5A Division I for one [more realignment cycle] and then be 6A,” Nally said. “It’s coming.”
Aubrey was in 2A when it reached the state semifinals in 2002 and was the state runner-up in 2004 and 2007, but its enrollment has doubled, growing from 516 in 2012 to 1,039 in 2024. Junior Ole Miss pledge Abby Lynch-Buxton (.480, 12 home runs, 40 RBIs) and seniors Molly Reid (.425, 10 home runs, 43 RBIs) and Mya Cherry (25-1, 0.87 ERA) helped Aubrey (33-3) make state as a 4A school for the second time in three years, and Friday’s Division II final against Robinson (36-3) may be one of Aubrey’s last chances to win state in the UIL’s third-largest classification before it moves up to 5A.
“Right now, I think we’re at like 1,130 students at the high school, so it’s coming really fast,” Aubrey coach James Ramsey said. “At some point, we will be [5A]. I don’t know if it will be the next realignment, but it will be at some point soon.”
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