Coahoma’s Hannah Wells Continues Storybook Softball Career With National Title

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — For the fourth straight year, Coahoma’s Hannah Wells has ended her softball season celebrating a championship.

Wells, a freshman for the University of Texas, helped her team defeat Texas Tech 4-1 Thursday to claim the Women’s College World Series national title.

The three previous years, Wells led Coahoma High School to three consecutive state titles. She was the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a senior.

Not bad for a girl from a town with less than 1,000 residents about 95 miles northwest of San Angelo.

Any doubt about whether Wells could make the jump from the small town to the defending national champions was quickly put to rest when she stepped right into the Longhorns’ starting lineup.

She played in 53 of Texas’ 65 games this year and had a .295 batting average. She was third on the team with 15 home runs, which set a new freshman record for the Longhorns.

Wells also pitched the third-most innings on the team. She had a 3.07 ERA and six wins while throwing 45.2 innings, which included an appearance in the fourth inning Thursday against Texas Tech.

In the championship series win against the Red Raiders, Wells had two hits — including one against All-American pitcher NiJaree Canady — and she scored what would stand as the winning run in Game 1.

Wells also had an ESPN story written about her unique superstition of eating lady bugs for good luck, a ritual that began back in Coahoma.

With senior pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez — another small-town girl from Stamford — graduating, Wells may be asked to carry more of the load in the pitcher’s circle next season.

Whatever happens, West Texas should enjoy watching Wells on the big stage for the next three seasons in college.