ACE IN THE CIRCLE … Golden Bear ace Thea Staten registered a complete-game two-hitter with 18 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Clyde.
PHOTOS BY RENEA KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
DEFENSIVE GEM … Bryan shortstop Amiyah Langham fires to first base from her knees. VIEW 78 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
SYLVANIA (May 22, 2026) – Attaining District championships has become commonplace for Bryan softball.
Golden Bear coach Hilary Staten added yet another title to that collection, as her team scored all the runs in the game in the first inning in a 4-0 win over Clyde.
The Division IV District championship was the fifth straight for Bryan. The unbeaten Golden Bears (21-0) will now play Bellville Clear Fork in a Division IV Regional semifinal Wednesday.
“Winning never gets old,” Staten said after the game. “We are coaching them up to come out with a good start, to get on a team early and set the tone of the game.
“We did that today, and we were looking to string a few more together however that (didn’t happen) today.”
Bryan struck for four straight hits, along with a costly Clyde error, to tally all their four runs after one out in the opening inning off Clyde’s Madison Myers.
Josey Arnold sliced a double against the wind down the left field line, then raced home on Thea Staten’s base hit up the middle for the first run of the game.
Averyann Fisher bounced a single through the left side to put runners on first and second.
Karli McDade came up with the biggest at-bat of the game when she hammered a two-strike pitch into the gap in left-center for a two-run double to open a 3-0 lead.
That margin grew by one more when Jozie Cordy’s fly ball to right was dropped for a three-base error.
No one really threatened after Bryan’s scoring salvo in the first. Myers only allowed one hit the rest of the night.
Staten, well, was Staten. The senior right-hander was solid the whole game, allowing just two hits, both coming off the bat of Teaghan Smith, in the fifth and the seventh.
Staten struck out 18 Fliers, while walking three, going the distance on the mound. Clyde exits the tournament with a 15-9 record.
CHS 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
BHS 400 000 x – 4 5 1
WP- Thea Staten (IP-7, R-0, H-2, K-18, BB-3)
LP- Madison Myers (IP-6, R-4, H-5, K-0, BB-0)
LEADING HITTERS: (Clyde) – 2 singles; (Bryan) Josey Arnold – double; Karli McDade – double, 2 RBIs.
