A new era dawns on the west side of Houston as the Katy Tigers softball team will be under a new head coach for the first time in 26 years. But it is not an unfamiliar face.
Longtime-assistant Meghan Burrell takes over the program as she enters her 12th year on campus. Burrell takes over a group that went 38-3 a year ago and rose to be the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and reached the Class 6A Region III Final.
This team returns plenty of talent, headlined by Oklahoma-commit Ella Kate “EK” Smith (.465, 1.16 ERA, honorable mention, all-state), LSU-commit Lauryn Soken (.313, 0.93 ERA, first-team, all-district) and University of Houstoncommit Hailey Gore (.509, 1st-team, all-district).
Other players to watch include Oklahoma State-commit Montgomery “MG” Henderson (.486, third-team, all-state), NC State-commit Maddie Smith (.391, first-team, all-district), McClennan-commit Brooke Fechner (.473, first-team, alldistrict) and Missouri-commit Avery Porter (first-team, all-district). Also, be on the lookout for Lexie Waugh (UT-Arlington-commit) and Paige Stall (Cisco-commit).
Matt Powell (VYPE)
The featured standouts of the 2026–27 Hightower Hurricanes football team.Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
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