By Brian Gosset
Melissa, which won back-to-back state titles and hit a national record 122 home runs in 2025, opened the season with a 9-2 win over Texarkana Texas on Thursday at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in College Station.
The Cardinals broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning and tacked on four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. 2026 signee Kennedy Bradley, who set the DFW single season record with 24 homers last season, homered against Texas High. Shug Bradford (Auburn) and Finlee Williams (Oklahoma) also went deep.
Williams hit 19 home runs last season as a sophomore.
Hattie Winter went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Williams had three hits, Lulu Adrian (Arkansas) had two doubles and two runs batted in and Izzy Gonzales (Memphis) added one RBI.
Arizona commit 2027 Eloisa Maes tossed six innings with five hits allowed, no runs and four strikeouts. Maes was voted champ game MVP of the 5A D1 final last season and finished with 32 wins – most in the state according to MaxPreps.
Melissa came into the season with 76 wins over an 80-game span. The Cardinals beat Barbers Hill 4-2 in last year’s title game to finish with a 38-1 record. They won their first title in program history in 2024 after beating Harlingen South and went 38-2-1.
During 2024, Melissa hit 92 home runs which was a state record.
