When the Lexington softball team took the field against Coahoma in the 3A Division II state title game on Thursday, the Lady Eagles weren't exactly looking in the mirror but instead getting a glimpse at what could be their future selves.
Now I'm not saying to go out and find yourself a bookie and bet the house on Lexington winning the next three state titles a la Coahoma as the Bulldogettes made history with their 6-1 win over the Lady Eagles by becoming the first school to win three consecutive UIL state championships.
But there's no doubt that Lexington doesn't have the tools and talent to get back to Red & Charline McCombs Field sooner rather than later.
I'm not the only one that feels that way as Lexington's 14-player roster will lose just three seniors to graduation, a fact that head coach Lauren Robertson was well aware of postgame on Thursday.
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"I'm so excited," Robertson said of bringing back almost her whole roster. "They know it, they know they're going to be back and they're ready."
While it will be hard to replace what the senior group of Maya Bell along with twins Aubrie and Averie Mathews have done, Robertson felt the trio set a strong foundation for the future.
The team's motto for this season had been "leave her mark" and Robertson said postgame that the team just did that with her seniors setting the tone and leaving a legacy.
It's an inheritance that the trio can be proud of as in 32 years of the UIL having playoffs for softball, Lexington's run this year was unprecedented.
Not only had the Lady Eagles never been to the state title game before Thursday, but Lexington had also never even been to the state semifinals and if the Lady Eagles had lost to Jourdanton in that round, it would have still been a historic season.
But call them ahead of schedule or maybe right on track as Lexington wasn't afraid of the big stage and swept Jourdanton with a 2-0 and 10-4 wins to advance to the state title game two weeks ago.
That set the stage for the matchup with a veteran Coahoma squad that boasted six seniors, five of whom were in the starting lineup for the state title game, including the game's MVP and Texas pitcher signee Hannah Wells.
Lexington on the other hand had a starting lineup of three seniors, two freshmen, three sophomores and one junior.
But even in a loss, Lexington still looked wise beyond its years during stretches as the team's lone run came off the bat of junior Teal Brockenbush as she scored sophomore Avery Rodriguez on an RBI single to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the first.
Brockenbush and Rodriguez's hits were two of six that Lexington had against Wells. The other hits came from Aubrie Mathews (2) and freshman Leighton Brown (2).
Coahoma also had six hits with half of them coming from its seniors, while the other three came from freshman Blakely Rodgers (1) and junior Mia Clemmer (2).
It's not just the offense that Lexington fans can be excited about returning either as its pitchers from the title game will be too. Sophomore Taylor Akin (22-5) and freshman Jillian Herridge (3-2) didn't get the outcome they wanted but the duo gained valuable experience.
While this year's team had the motto of "leave her mark", the 2026 squad might want to think about adopting something like "unfinished business" for the team's next campaign.
Jake Weese's email address is jacob.weese@theeagle.com
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