by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
It’s been nearly a quarter of century since Lancaster High School softball fans have cheered their team on to the state tournament. And when you say it like that, that’s a lot to celebrate.
The Lady Devils finished the 2024-25 season as the Region 1A runner-up and a Class 1 quarterfinalist, advancing to the state tournament for the first time since 2001. There have been a few region tournament berths over the past 24 years and even a win or two in the first round, but with a 9-4 regional semifinal win over Westmoreland on June 3, the Lady Devils punched their ticket to state play.
The Rappahannock Lady Raiders, which brought a 34-game winning streak against Lancaster into the regional final, barely retained their Region 1A reign, beating LHS, 3-2, with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh.
“Once we beat Westmoreland we were all so excited,” said LHS senior outfielder Ayla Saunders. “I can’t even describe the feeling. It was nothing like I’ve felt before, at least over the last three years.”
Saunders, one of only three seniors on the young Lady Devils team, was Lancaster’s only representative on the All-Region 1A first team and scored one of her team’s two runs in the region final.
After losing three straight late in the season, the Lady Devils took a six-game winning streak into the regional tournament, where they beat Chincoteague, 15-2, in the quarterfinals and Westmoreland in the semis.
Buffalo Gap ended the Lady Devils postseason run with a 7-2 defeat in the state quarterfinal on June 10.
The Lady Devils ended the season at….
