Last week, the Royals Softball team played their final games of the 2025 season. After a year filled with ups and downs, the team continued to be resilient and fight through adversity and make it to the Regional Tournament in Dallas, Texas. The ladies dropped a heartbreaker against #2 Arlington Baptist University by a score of 5-2 in Game 1. The game started on Friday, May 2 and was delayed during the 3rd inning until the following day due to rain. The Royals held a 1-0 lead going into the delay. 
 The team bounced back after the loss to beat #4 Kansas Christian 9-1 in an elimination game. Emily Suttles pitched the whole game and got the win to help the team stay alive. 
 Game 3 didn't go as planned for the Royals. They played ABU again in a semifinal elimination game to move on to the Championship game against Dallas Christian. Arlington's offense proved to just be too much, however, as they put up 10 runs to win by a score of 10-2.

 Though the season didn't end where or how the team would have wanted, there was still lots to be proud of and to hang hope on moving forward. First, Ariana Ortiz and Western Mussett were both voted 2nd-Team All-Region following the tournament. Those ladies also held the highest season batting averages on the team, with Mussett at .451 and Ortiz at .447. Mussett, Ortiz and Desirae Reed all led the team with 5 home runs to contribute to the 22 total home runs on the year. Emily Suttles handled her role as the starting pitcher, throwing 147.1 innings in 28 games with 23 complete games pitched. 
 
 This program looks to continue to grow and improve and should not be counted out moving forward. There were many lessons learned in 2025 and all of the practices and commitment will all pay off soon.