Another Year, Another Title: Calvary Softball Extends Historic Run, Earns National Recognition
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Before Calvary Baptist’s softball players, better known as Team 21, went their separate ways for the summer, they convened last week to relish in their accomplishments for the season.
They had plenty of time to reflect on a memorable year, taking time to truly unwind with a pool party that was another example of this year’s camaraderie.
Calvary Baptist finished with a school record for victories with a 37-1 record and extended its streak for consecutive state championships to five with a dominating 12-0 victory over D’Arbonne Woods behind standout pitcher Kynzee Anderson’s no-hitter and four strikeouts.
“We were able to tell them one more time how awesome of a season it was,” Calvary Baptist’s coach Tiffany Wood, who completed her 14th season. “We told them that before you go forward doing your own thing and working toward next and travel ball, take a minute to enjoy it and realize how special the year was.”
For the second straight season, Calvary earned national recognition.
The Lady Cavaliers, who were the No. 1 team in the state by MaxPreps, were ranked No. 2 nationally for the second straight season by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. A year after a No. 10 final national ranking from MaxPreps, the same outlet ranked them No. 7, and Sports Illustrated positioned them at No. 10.
“It’s so cool to see your name on national polls,” Wood said. “I think the girls really like it. It’s one more thing to add to our state championship monuments and list of honors. It’s another thing to keep working toward.”
Wood, who has led Calvary to seven state championships, has created quite a conversation piece at her home field that pays homage to her program’s past success.
The ‘Championship Walkway’ on the outside of the park stands as a shrine to each state championship team. Each player’s name is engraved, and a team picture and picture of Wood with that year’s senior class adorns each monument.
Based on the trajectory of the program, they’re going to need additional room following the example set by this year’s team which graduated one senior (pitcher Addison Willis) and had two other juniors in Anderson and left fielder Abby Sims.
This year’s team had a .415 batting average, averaged 10.7 runs a game, collected 91 home runs with 63 doubles, and stole a school-record 91 bases.
Led by Anderson, a junior University of Georgia commitment, the Lady Cavaliers had a team ERA of 1.36 with 17 shutouts, four one-hitters, and a perfect game by freshman Jaycee Sledge.
Calvary responded from its lone setback – a 2-1 road loss to Sterlington (a team it had defeated 5-1 earlier in the season) to finish the season on a six-game winning streak that was capped in run-rule fashion over D’Arbonne Woods.
The Lady Cavaliers were 11-0 against teams from Class 5A and had wins over eventual state champions Sam Houston (Division I non-select), North DeSoto (Division II non-select), Quitman (Class B), and runners-up St. Thomas More (Division I select) and Dutchtown (Division I non-select).
“You obviously would love to have that game back,” Wood said the team’s lone defeat on April 7. “From the beginning, there’s never a goal set to be undefeated. That’s not the end goal. It’s something really cool to strive for. I want them to know that we’re not going to be perfect and learn from close games and losses. They’re going to make us better.
“We try to travel a lot, we try to play good teams,” Wood said. “To make our schedule as tough as it can be and it gets hard. In the end, it helps us. We’re battle-tested. You’re ready for the close games. You’re ready for good pitching and tough competition and that’s proven to really benefit us. We’re extremely happy with 37-1.”
Before the season began, Calvary found itself having to grieve the loss of senior Elana Franks following her injuries suffered in a car accident on Jan. 7.
Franks’ jersey was a constant in the team’s dugout throughout the season, further galvanizing a close-knit team to play for something beyond themselves.
“It was unbelievable how these kids came together, battled through a tough time in January,” Wood said. “We played for her the whole time. We talked about her. In everything we did, we wanted to honor her.”
After winning a 1-0 semifinal game over Parkview Baptist on the strength of Carlie Guile’s first-inning homer, and Anderson’s four-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts, Calvary wasn’t involved in a tense state title game.
“Parkview was a great team and they’re a young team,” Wood said. “They’re going to be someone to constantly battle with. Sometimes the semifinals are the toughest ones, just that pressure to make it to that final game. We’ve won (four) games by one run all season and we were ready. We were tested.”
The Lady Cavaliers broke open a 1-0 game with an 11-run fourth inning, led by Guile’s three RBIs and two each from freshman shortstop Baylor Bockhaus and Sims. Guile and eighth-grader Brynn Robinson each had three hits, and sophomore center fielder Reese Walker added two.
Amid a jubilant postgame scene, the team’s huddle turned somber when Franks’ parents – Greg and Lisa Franks – addressed the team, expressing their congratulations and thanks for keeping their daughter’s memory alive and making her a part of this season’s state title.
“It was a heartbreaking moment,” Wood said.
Anderson, the MaxPreps Player of the Year in Louisiana, was 24-1 and had two saves. She had 23 complete games in 28 appearances, compiling a 1.26 ERA with 245 strikeouts and 57 walks in 145 innings.
Willis was also impressive with an 11-0 record, 1.53 ERA, and 84 strikeouts in 64 innings, with Sledge (2-0, 2.000 ERA) getting 13 strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
Calvary surrounded them with an air-tight defense that had a .986 fielding percentage, committing just 11 errors in 774 total chances.
The Lady Cavaliers had five players who saw action in the majority of the team’s games that didn’t commit an error – Robinson, Sims, Walker, Sledge, and junior Amelia Bain.
Wood said this year’s .415 batting average was the best during her tenure, a diverse group that hit for power, but could apply pressure through bunting and stealing bases.
“This was a great year at having a lot of different combinations for us,” she said. “My goal was to steal 50 bases, and we crushed that. Last year we had 35. We had some new kids that came in the lineup with power, which came with speed which came with being able to lay down bunts.
“We still had the home runs (91 which matched last year’s output), but we were able to lay down bunts and beat them out, maybe when people weren’t expecting it, we squeezed three times in finals,” she said. “We had speed to put pressure on people. One through nine, we had the ability to potentially hit a home run, mix in the short game and it gets hard for teams to defend.”
Bockhaus, the team’s leader with a .551 average and staggering 1.331 slugging percentage, ranked nationally in two categories. Her 89 RBIs ranked fifth in the country, while her 25 homers were seventh and broke Ramsey Walker’s school record of 24 set last season.
She was one of six players to bat .400 or better with Anderson supplying a .466 average, 15 doubles, 12 homers, 45 RBIs, and 1.034 slugging percentage.
Robinson batted .442 with 16 RBIs and 21 stolen bases, sophomore third baseman Lauren Sivils (.436, 10 doubles, 12 homers, 56 RBIs), Carver, a sophomore catcher, (.425, 12 doubles, 12 homers, 60 RBIs) and Guile (.400, 8 doubles, 13 homers, 35 RBIs and team-high 22 stolen bases).
“Mallory and Carlie started since the seventh grade and Brynn played in some games last year,” Wood said. “Jaycee (.374, 11 homers, 40 RBIs) started in her first year, Reece Walker (.345, 3 2Bs, 4 HRs, 15 RBIs, 15 stolen bases) was a first-year starter and Amelia Bain (.264, 10 RBIs) was a first-year starter. We had a good mix of kids who have been there for a long time with a combination of some new kids who have seen what it takes to get in there as well.”
Another addition to Calvary’s growing collection of state championship memories will be a new billboard in left-center field of this year’s state championship team, which will also include a picture of Franks.
It’s Calvary’s version of ‘The Intimidator’ that stands tall in right field above Alex Box Stadium to commemorate all seven of LSU’s national championships.
The day after the team returned from Sulphur, Wood thanked Team 21 – the school’s 21st team to play softball – for being excellent stewards of the team’s programs and maintaining a winning culture.
“We wanted them to celebrate their accomplishments and how good it was,” Wood said. “Every person in the lineup and dugout were huge.”
The baton was then passed a day later when Wood met with Team 22 which should have a lot of familiar faces. Some of them have already been part of four or five state championships, giving them a clear indication of the expectations that await in 2026.
Calvary will attempt to join three other schools – Vandebilt Catholic, Hackberry, and Linville – as the only schools to win six consecutive state championships.
The Lady Cavaliers will also be in pursuit of an eighth state title, a number that would move them into a tie for fourth place with two other schools on the all-time list.
Vandebilt and John Curtis both won state titles this season, extending their statewide lead to 16 and 13, respectively.
“The goal is the same but the road to get there’s always going to look a little different for each team,” Woods said. “After last year, and Team 21 had won four in a row and got nationally ranked, you get to thinking, ‘How do you beat that’? We talked about the expectations for the team and reminded them we can’t roll out our helmets and win it.
“We have a group of kids that work really hard,” Wood said. “They want to get better. They want to play college ball. They want to be in a tough starting lineup and it’s going to be even harder next year. I encourage them to take a breather, take some time from the hard work that you do, and get back after it.”