Houston players lead Longhorns to WCWS

Seven of the eight teams – sorry, Alabama – in the Women’s College World Series, which begins Thursday in Oklahoma City, have at least one player from the Houston area on their roster.

None of them, however, are more powered by Houston than Texas, which opens its seventh trip to the Women’s College World Series against Stanford on Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN).

The Longhorns bring one of the nation’s best offenses to Oklahoma City with an NCAA-best .379 batting average and a roster featuring five players with at least eight home runs. Two of those hitters – utility player Mia Scott and outfielder Kayden Henry – are Houston-area products, with Scott playing at Angleton High School and Henry at Dickinson.

Freshman Victoria Hunter of St. Pius Barbers Hill’s Sophia Simpson hasn’t been used as much this season, but she has World Series experience, helping guide the Longhorns to the finals in 2022.

Here’s a look at the five Houston-area players on the Longhorns roster…

The junior, who won a state championship at Angleton in 2019, has been a force since arriving on the Austin campus. She was second-team All-Big 12 as a freshman and was first-team in each of the last two seasons. Scott, who hits second base and plays primarily third base, ranks second on the team with a .410 batting average and his 10 homers and 52 RBIs are third. She had huge success in the Longhorns’ back-to-back wins over Texas A&M in last week’s Super Regional, going 5 for 10 with a homer, three RBIs and three runs scored in Games 2 and 3 of series.

Henry, who competed in last year’s track and field meet in three events for Dickinson, made an immediate impact on the softball field as a freshman. She started 58 of the Longhorns’ 60 games, hitting .381 with nine home runs and a Big 12 best 26 stolen bases. Henry was second team All-Big 12 and was one of 10 finalists for National Freshman of the Year. Playing center field, Henry had a huge Game 2 against Texas A&M in the Super Regional. She went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, including the eventual game-winner after leading off the ninth inning with a single and a stolen base and eventually scoring the go-ahead run.

Hunter was one of the top recruits in the country after a standout career at St. Pius X, and she was a big contribution off the bench for the Longhorns as a freshman. She is 15-for-37 (.405) in 34 games, with her biggest hit coming for the Aggies when she hit a grand slam in the first game of the super regional, which the Aggies held on to win. Hunter also had a hit in each of the other two postseason battles with the Aggies, drawing a walk in the decisive third game.

The junior, who won a state championship at Atascocita in 2018, transitioned into more of a reserve role after starting at least 49 games in each of her first two seasons. She is hitting .291 (16-for-55) and came off the bench as a pinch hitter in the first game of the super regional against Texas A&M.

The junior, who led Barbers Hill to the 2021 state title, was a key part of the Longhorns’ 2022 team that reached the Women’s College World Series final, but Texas mostly turned to other pitchers this season. After starting 23 games in her first two seasons, Simpson has been used in relief 13 times this year, compiling a 1.88 ERA with two saves. She has pitched just once in the past month, pitching one inning in a Big 12 tournament win over Baylor on May 10.