Pearland HS softball making a run for 4th state championship in school history

Pearland HS softball making a run for 4th state championship in school history

The Pearland High School Lady Oilers are ranked No. 2 in the state in softball. They have been playing together since they were young and now have reached the A Division I regional championship after eliminating Cy Ridge 2-0 in their best-of-three regional semifinal series.

They are a serious group on the field focused on winning. But after the game, during the postgame interviews, well, they like to have fun with each other.

The Lady Oilers are stacking wins like they stack sombreros, gloves, and other things on their teammates' heads during postgame interviews.

"How do you talk with everything else going on here?" ABC13 sports producer Joe Gleason asked.

"It's a little much, but I think I look cut still," senior Madelyn Guzman said.

There's a time for fun and a time to be serious. On the field, they are all business.

"The second you look at us, you see, we always pick up one another, someone's helping someone else on the field," senior shortstop Elaina Njus said.

"How far do you feel this team can go?" ABC13 asked.

"Oh, we're winning it all. We already made our decision. And that's it. We're winning it," senior Payton Shugart said.

The last time Pearland won state was in 2023; three freshmen were on that team, including Guzman.

"It means everything to me because it's my senior year and I really want to go out with a bang," Guzzman said. "We won our first year, and I want to win this year, too."

Madeline doesn't joke around when she's inside the circle, pitching. She's coming off an 11-strikeout, no-hitter in game one of the regional semifinals, and followed that performance up with 15 strikeouts in the series clincher against Cy Ridge.

"I love this team we all play for each other, and we all have really good chemistry," she said.

The Lady Oilers want to cherish every moment, every post-game interview together, and hope the season ends with laughter and more sombreros stacked after lifting the state championship trophy in Austin.