When Ava Brown was asked in early June to reflect upon her high school career and the upcoming state tournament, she talked about the hard work, relationships and substantial time and effort that accommodated winning.
And then, Brown remarked matter-of-factly, “All good things must come to an end.”
And what good it was.
Brown crowned a storied high school career in exclamatory fashion in the days and weeks after that conversation, leading Lake Creek to a second consecutive Class 5A state title, a second straight national championship and being named Gatorade’s national player of the year.
In the circle, Brown went 27-0 with 292 strikeouts to 30 walks in 172 innings pitched. She had a 0.53 ERA. At the plate, the Florida signee hit .462 with 65 RBIs and nine home runs with a .594 on-base percentage and .888 slugging percentage.
For the second straight year, Brown is The Courier’s Player of the Year.
“She’s probably achieved everything, and probably more, than what she was looking to achieve,” Lake Creek coach Michelle Rochinski said. “She had goals to be national Gatorade player of the year. With the back-to-back state championships and all the individual awards, I don’t know what else there is. Team-wise, she achieved the biggest thing out there in national champions and state champions.”
Brown boasted a power arm and a power bat. Her confidence was second to none. She embraced big moments and welcomed adversity.
But it was Brown’s competitive DNA that pushed her to levels so many of her peers do not reach.
“I think it comes from being pushed by other people around me,” Brown said. “We have a team full of a lot of talent. For me, knowing my job and knowing my role, I know I have to put my best out there, no matter what, and I can only expect the best from the people behind me if I’m giving my best. If I know I’m giving my all, I expect the people around me to be giving their all.”
Brown draws inspiration on and off the field.
On the field, it’s obvious why. She is not only ridiculously gifted, but she plays with a spirit and toughness that rivals the greats.
Off the field, Brown participates in youth camps for Montgomery little league and offers personal lessons. She plays for the young girls who travel to her games and wait excitedly afterward for autographs. She is a passionate advocate of mental health and intends to pursue a career in the field.
Softball offered Brown solace. But she has awarded as much to the game as what she reaped from it.
“With everything going on, team-wise and individual, she handled it with great poise,” Rochinski said. “You don’t get the opportunity often to coach that type of kid. Going back to day one, she’s stepped in, had goals and is one of the hardest-working individuals I’ve had the privilege to coach.”
Co-Offensive MVP: Alannah Leach, senior, The Woodlands; Maddie McKee, senior, Lake Creek
Maddie McKee’s speed and toughness as Lake Creek’s leadoff hitter were catalysts for a Lions offense that averaged 8.8 runs per game.
“She read the defenses very well, and we saw a lot of different defenses thrown at us than what we’ve ever seen before,” Lake Creek coach Michelle Rochinski said. “She knew if she could find a way to get on, nine times out of 10 we were able to move her around the bases.”
Alannah Leach adding a power dynamic to her already-explosive offensive prowess made The Woodlands’ offense tougher.
“It kept defenses on their toes,” The Woodlands coach Tim Borths said. “They really didn’t know how to play her, whether it was to be in their slap defense or to stay back. If she swung away that first at-bat and they dropped back the second time, she’d just drop that bunt down and beat it out. It was pick your poison for opposing defenses.”
Because of their exceptional ability at the plate and on the basepaths, McKee and Leach are The Courier’s Co-Offensive MVPs for a second straight year.
McKee hit .527 with 37 RBIs and three home runs. She had a .587 on-base percentage with 18 extra-base hits and 74 runs scored.
She was atop the nation’s leaders in stolen bases with 65.
It was another extraordinary campaign for the LSU signee despite a torn PCL in her right knee suffered early during the first round of the playoffs.
“Give her credit—not once did she want to come out,” Rochinski said. “She was hurt, and even the minute she was hurt she was intent on finishing things out. She pushed through.”
McKee, who did not miss a game in the postseason and wore a brace through the final six rounds, said the injury forced her to adapt. No longer able to rely on her speed, she learned to swing away more and power-slap. Identifying holes in the defense became essential.
“It was tough at times, and we had to change her practice routine a bit and have her back off a bit,” Rochinski said. “When it came down to the games, it was bothering her, but I think with the adrenaline she could put it aside. You can’t just ask that of any kid. She had the mentality that she wasn’t going to let that stop her.”
Leach hit .538 with 43 RBIs and five home runs. The Tennessee signee had a .614 on-base percentage and .840 slugging percentage with 11 extra-base hits and 19 stolen bases.
“She definitely added more of a power element to her game,” Borths said. “There was more swing-away power from the left side as opposed to just the slap game, and she was still very proficient in reading the defenses and being able to drop a bunt down on command and reach safely.”
Leach and sister Gabby, a senior and first-team All-County outfielder, are the last in line of a prominent family of athletes to come through The Woodlands.
Older sisters Aubrey, a former Tennessee standout and now a pro softball player, and Kelcy, who played at Texas Tech and Tennessee, also starred for the Highlanders. As a child, Alannah grew up playing with Gabby on the hill behind the school’s softball field while Aubrey and Kelcy won games for the green, red and white.
“She literally has grown up on our softball field,” Borths said. “It’s been special to watch her develop. She’s definitely come a long way and it’s been great to see.”
Borths said Leach made considerable strides in confidence from her freshman year to senior year. Leach learned to embrace the spotlight as the three-hole hitter. Most of the time, especially this season, the Highlanders’ offense ran through Leach.
“She has put in the work,” Borths said. “Her and Gabby are always up at the cages hitting or on the field, honing their craft hours after practice. On weekends, they hit on their own. It has paid off. As much as genetics and lineage and those things play into it, she has definitely put in the work to earn everything she’s gotten.”
Defensive MVP: Kalee Rochinski, senior, Lake Creek
Whenever Ava Brown took the circle for Lake Creek, Kalee Rochinski had a front row seat.
Rochinski, daughter of head coach Michelle Rochinski, caught every game of Brown’s high school career. The two were inseparable on and off the field. After practices and on the weekends, they’d often go together to cages to hit or work on Brown’s pitching.
Rochinski, like Brown, was a fiery leader of the Lions. Defensively, she was a force. Rochinski had a .998 fielding percentage, ran down five baserunners and had 24 assists.
The UTSA signee is The Courier’s Defensive MVP.
“Kalee was a leader,” Michelle Rochinski said. “She could read what opposing teams were throwing at us. It was just her growth, year to year and day to day. I think because we were so focused on having to have her behind the plate, it hurt her offensive game a little bit and she knew that. But she never let her at-bats hurt her defensive ability.”
Still, Rochinski was potent at the plate with a .388 average, 35 RBIs and three home runs.
But it was her playmaking and steadiness as the backstop that engineered a Lake Creek defense that surrendered 55 runs in 45 games. Rochinski had one error in 432 total chances and eliminated five of eight stolen base attempts.
“She stepped up more as a vocal leader,” Michelle Rochinski said. “She got smarter and smarter.”
Rochinski and Brown made for a nightmarish duo for opposing hitters. Each claimed a high softball IQ. Each had unwavering confidence. And each had complete trust in the other to make the right play.
Without one, the other would not have been as powerful.
“I feel lucky in that aspect, because if your pitcher and catcher are not on the same page, you’re not going to be very successful,” Michelle Rochinski said. “They knew when one or the other was off. They talked through the game. Them working together and being so tight, whether on or off the field, was a tremendous help for this team and this program.”
Newcomer of the Year: Stevie South, freshman, Magnolia
It did not take long for Magnolia coach Angela Gonzales-Cooper to know she had someone special in freshman Stevie South.
“As soon as we started playing, she was always getting on base and always finding something,” Gonzales-Cooper said. “It was just immediate. That first tournament we went to Galveston and she was just a spark every time she went up to bat. She put the ball on the ground, over the fence, a deep shot to the outfield … you just knew she was a different type of kid.”
South had it all. All-around talent. She could hit with power and precision and her defensive ability at catcher was admirable. She didn’t play nervous. Her poise belied her years.
“She just plays so elite and above her level more so than any kid I’ve ever coached,” Gonzales-Cooper said.
For that, South is The Courier’s Newcomer of the Year.
South hit .559 with 25 RBIs and four home runs this season. She had a .650 on-base percentage and 21 extra-base hits with 42 runs scored.
South’s 1.650 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) was second in all of Montgomery County, behind Magnolia West junior Hailey Toney.
“She takes really good quality at-bats and sees the ball really well,” Gonzales-Cooper said. “She watches the ball. She’s on time with her hitting. Even with all the different speeds and pitches she sees, she literally can put the bat on anything.”
There was a moment against Lake Creek during the second round of district play that exhibited the respect South derived from others.
With two runners on base with two outs for Magnolia and South coming up to hit in the top of the second inning, Lake Creek, holding a 1-0 lead, pulled its starting pitcher for All-County Player of the Year Ava Brown.
South took a pitch for a ball, fouled off the next pitch and then hit into the gap between first and second base for a groundout.
It was a revelatory moment for player and coach.
“You want a kid like Stevie to come up at that moment in that situation against a team like Lake Creek,” Gonzales-Cooper said. “It was just another challenge for her, but we had so much confidence in her to have another quality at-bat, even against a kid like Ava Brown. You know something could happen because of who she is. That respect from a terrific coach like Coach Rochinski and a terrific team like Lake Creek, it speaks volumes to the quality of kid that she is.”
Gonzales-Cooper said the next step for South is defining the finer details of the game. Knowing “what can serve her team the best at that exact moment.”
She would also like South to get to a point where she is comfortable calling games for Magnolia ace Leah Hammack.
“Her communication got so much stronger throughout the year, and that comes from building trust and building relationships with each other,” Gonzales-Cooper said.
Pitcher of the Year: Eva Lantagne, freshman, Conroe
Sure, Eva Lantagne’s skills set her apart. It’s not often a freshman is named The Courier’s Pitcher of the Year. Lantagne can throw any pitch for a strike, and with control.
Her repertoire is diverse, though her curveball is particularly devastating, and she pitches with speed and command.
But it was Lantagne’s mindset that was most impressive. It was her resilience and composure in leading Conroe to its first ever district championship and first playoff appearance since 2010.
“When things got tough, whenever we played against high-level teams in tournaments and district, she just didn’t back down,” said new head coach Rachelle Harris, who was an assistant for Conroe last season. “Her body language was, you know, ‘Keep pitching, keep dominating, keep fighting.’
“It was a leadership type that you want from anyone, and I’m so grateful we had it from our pitcher. The pitcher’s the leader. If she breaks down mentally, it’s a wrap for everybody else.”
Harris added, “The girl’s a superstar. Being so good, on top of all that, was very helpful.”
Lantagne had a 2.04 ERA with 228 strikeouts to 36 walks in 158 innings pitched. She held opponents to a .189 batting average and surrendered 46 earned runs.
“It was her knowledge of her opponents and knowing what hitters struggled with,” Harris said. “We trusted Eva as a freshman to know which pitches were the best, whether she was down in the count or overcoming runners in scoring position … we trusted her gut, because she was just so confident and so mature mentally.”
Lantagne is a grinder. After practices, she often went to private lessons. On the weekends, she trained on her own. And she did all of it without slacking off in the classroom.
Lantagne is a straight-A’s student and earned many academic honors this season.
“Eva works,” Harris said. “She’s die-hard softball and she knows how to perfect her craft. She puts in that work, and it shows.”
Lantagne is the ideal leader by example for a Conroe team on the rise. The next step is becoming that leader vocally.
“She’s a leader within herself, but being a leader as a teammate … she’s very, very hard on herself, but as a teammate, she’s so sweet and quiet,” Harris said. “We’ve talked about her maturing with her team, as far as a leader.”
Coach of the Year: Michelle Rochinski, Lake Creek
Michelle Rochinski went out on top.
After leading Lake Creek to a second consecutive Class 5A state championship and a second straight national championship, Rochinski stepped down as head coach of the Lions in early June.
Lake Creek went 44-1 this season. The one loss in the regional final snapped a state-record 82-game win streak. The Lions, who won a third consecutive district title in the process, outscored their opposition, 396-55.
“Doing what they did, I would have never dreamed of my career ending this way,” Rochinski said. “I feel honored being able to coach the kids that I have. From day one when this group walked in, everybody knew they had a chance to do something special. They had the right mindset when it came to achieving greatness.”
Rochinski, who stepped down to have more time to watch her kids Cade and Kalee play collegiately, said it was the people that made the season special.
“It’s the relationships,” she said. “Winning is always nice but being able to watch these kids grow day in and day out and the maturity level they had going through the last two years … they never let things get to them. They handled the adversity and targets on their back really well. I’ll never forget this group.”
Rochinski had 541 career wins and won 76 percent of her games. She led her teams to three state tournament appearances.
And through a quarter-century of success, she always worked to better herself. As the game evolved, so did she.
This season, for instance, Rochinski implemented more mental health training and more intensive film work. The Lions focused more on Hudl for film study. In past years, they watched film on an iPad and needed a coach around to operate it.
With user-friendly Hudl, players could study film individually and as often as they desired.
“Throughout my career, I’ve changed year to year,” Rochinski said. “We did some different things, whether it was more focus on the mental part or bringing in more film. Some of us older coaches may look at things we did in the past and stick with them because we were successful then. But we have to make changes year to year and grow.”
