Taylor Reyes, Julia Guerrero power Santa Gertrudis past Grandview in 3A UIL state semifinals

The SGA Lions rallied to beat Grandview 6-3 on Wednesday, advancing to the Class 3A UIL Softball State Championship for the first time since 2018

AUSTIN, Texas — Powered by the bats of junior second baseman Taylor Reyes and senior right fielder Julia Guerrero, Santa Gertrudis Academy made the most of its first UIL Softball State Tournament appearance in five years.

SGA responded quickly after falling in an early 1-0 hole, as the Lions pounced on the Zebras during a five-run rally in the top of the second inning.

Santa Gertrudis' bats caught fire and from that point onward, the Lions' slick defense helped them hold on to beat Grandview 6-3 on Wednesday morning at Red & Charline McCombs Field at the University of Texas.

Reyes, a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders commit, and Guerrero combined for five RBI to pace the Lions offensively. 

Guerrero was 2-for-2 hitting with a pair of singles, two RBI, a walk and a run scored, while Reyes finished a 2-for-4 day at the plate with a triple, a home run and three RBI for SGA.

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Grandview (39-4) ends its season with the loss after the Zebras reached the state tournament for the first time since 2018 in their second state semifinals appearance in program history.

Santa Gertrudis Academy (40-5), meanwhile, extends its now 25-game winning streak with the victory and advances to the state title game for the first time since 2018, when the Lions were crowned state champs during their last trip to the state tournament.

The SGA Lions will face the winner of Coahoma (34-3) and Emory Rains (33-7) in the Class 3A UIL Softball State Championship game at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 1st, at the University of Texas' Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin.

Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the 3A UIL state title game.

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PHOTO GALLERY — SANTA GERTRUDIS ACADEMY 6, GRANDVIEW 3

All photos by Andrew McCulloch