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Plano East hopes poise pays off in hunt for first title game since ’95

As a freshman in 2009, Plano East’s Rachel Scott was astonished by what she saw at the softball state tournament in Austin. It wasn’t because Plano East was playing nationally ranked Spring Branch Smithson Valley in a Class 5A state semifinal.

“I was definitely a little awestruck,” Scott said. “That was the first time I had ever seen the UT field. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to go back and play there. … Other than that, the game really did not intimidate me. I just felt like it was another game.”

It won’t just be another game when Scott plays at the University of Texas’ Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday. Plano East battles Klein Collins in a 5A state semifinal at 3 p.m., and a win would put Plano East in a state title game for the first time since 1995.

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Scott can look forward to a lot more games at UT. The senior shortstop has signed with Texas and will play college home games where her high school career ends.

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Scott won’t be the only Plano East senior doing that. All-state pitcher Holly Kern has also signed with UT.

“That’s going to be something really cool to look back on,” Scott said. “But right now, Holly and I both are just trying to finish our season strong.”

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Scott and Kern may see future teammates at state, as Montgomery junior shortstop Devon Tunning and Henderson junior pitcher Tiarra Davis have committed to Texas. Davis shut out Liberty Hill in a 3A semifinal Thursday, and Tunning faces Forney on Friday.

The careers of Scott, Kern and senior center fielder Chandler Cink have come full circle. All three started as freshmen in that ’09 state semifinal. Cink had a hit in the 1-0, 10-inning loss to eventual champion Smithson Valley.

“It was freshman year, so I didn’t really realize the magnitude of how far we had made it,” said Kern, who played first base in 2009 before taking over for all-state pitcher Taylor Jones in 2010. “I didn’t realize how important that event was.”

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Plano East was the No. 4 seed from its district in ’09. In the playoffs, it beat four district champions on the way to state.

“Every round, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe we won.’ Then when we got there, we were like, ‘We can’t believe we’re here,’” Cink said.

Plano East lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2010 and missed the playoffs last year after it was ranked fourth in the nation at midseason. This year, Plano East was the No. 1 seed from District 8-5A, then won its seven playoff games by a combined 48-13.

“Last year we thought our team was one of the strongest teams we’ve had in many years,” said Cink, who will attend Arkansas but won’t play softball there. “We decided we needed to humble ourselves and take it game by game.”

Kern (33-3) missed two weeks in preseason after cleating herself in the leg at practice, an injury that required 22 stitches. But she leads Dallas-area players in wins and is among the area leaders in home runs (10) and RBIs (46).

Cink has a .359 batting average and leads Plano East with 45 runs. Scott is second on the team in runs (38) and is hitting .320 with 31 RBIs. They’ve come a long way since 2009.

“They were real quiet,” coach Karen Kalhoefer said. “They just did their thing. They would make amazing plays, and everybody would be like ‘Wow,’ because they were freshmen. They all had braces on, and they were happy-go-lucky.”

Now, all three are leaders for the nation’s No. 11 team.

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“I’m hoping some of my girls, my little ones, see how those seniors hold themselves, how they have such poise and calm under pressure,” Kalhoefer said.