By Clay Whittington
The Belton Journal
Six weeks after its conclusion, the Lady Broncos’ historic season continues to receive recognition.
In just its fourth year of existence and first under head coach Kelsie McEachern, Lake Belton was dominant en route to its first appearance at the University Interscholastic League state tournament, winning a whopping 40 games before being eliminated by eventual champion Melissa in the semifinals.
The Lady Broncos were recently given reason to celebrate the campaign once again as four players were honored for their performances, earning spots on the Blue Bell/Texas Sports Writers Association Class 5A All-State Softball Team.
Senior pitcher Shelby Schultz and senior third baseman Angie DeLeon captured the highest honors, landing on the 12-person second team, while teammates Maddison Ruiz, a junior pitcher, and senior shortstop Casey Schultz were third-team selections.
This is the fourth consecutive season Shelby Schultz and Casey Schultz have been chosen for the squad.
Last season, each was placed on the third team after both were named honorable mentions on the Class 4A team as sophomores. Shelby Schultz opened her high school career with a third-team selection in 2021, when Casey Schultz was an honorable mention.
Shelby Schultz, who amassed more than 700 strikeouts in her career, was also named the 22-5A All-District Most Valuable Player after guiding Lake Belton to an undefeated championship, and she was placed on the Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State Team along with Casey Schultz and DeLeon.
DeLeon was the all-district co-offensive player of the year, and Casey Schultz a first-team selection, while Ruiz was named pitcher of the year.
The Lady Tigers were also represented on the TSWA all-state team.
Belton senior Ramsey Evans-Curran, who shared the all-district offensive player of the year accolade with DeLeon, was one of 10 honorable mentions at catcher.
The Lady Tigers were the only district team to score against Lake Belton, crossing home plate twice in a 12-2 loss.
For a majority of the season, however, the Lady Broncos were impeccable.
Lake Belton finished the schedule with 413 runs and only allowed 57 with 17 coming in its five losses, and after starting the season with a 5-3 record, the Lady Broncos won 31 consecutive games before suffering a 3-2 defeat to College Station in Game 2 of a third-round best-of-three series.
They responded with four straight wins against three teams to reach the state tournament.
