Melissa junior shortstop Caigan Crabtree has been one of the most prolific home run hitters in Dallas-area history. So have teammates Kennedy Bradley and Hutton “LuLu” Adrian.
But Crabtree, who is committed to Texas — the No. 1 team in the nation — was surprised to learn that Melissa has hit more home runs in a season than any softball team in state history.
“Wow. I didn’t know that,” she said. “We wake up at 5:30 every morning and we go to the cages. It’s just lots of preparation. We hit off the machines a lot, which helps us with our timing, seeing the difference between fast pitchers and slow pitchers.”
Melissa broke the state record Friday when it hit three home runs in a 5-1 win over Huntsville in a one-game, second-round Class 5A playoff. That gave Melissa 84 home runs for the season — two more than Canyon hit in 2017.
Canyon’s total had been No. 2 in national history, according to the record book for the National Federation of State High School Associations. Stonewall North Desoto from Louisiana holds the national record, with 105 homers in 2022.
“We spend a lot of time in the weight room,” said Melissa coach Cassie Crabtree, who is Caigan’s mom. “In the offseason we spent three days a week, and they did performance course four days a week. Once season hit, we are there every week, and even now, we are in the weight room two times a week, lifting heavy and still getting stronger.”
The Dallas-area record for most home runs by an individual in a season could be broken as soon as Thursday. But which Melissa slugger smashes the record remains to be seen.
Bradley, a sophomore third baseman, has homered in four consecutive games — blasting six home runs in that span — and now has 20 home runs for the season. That ties the D-FW record that was set by Allen’s Sami Hood in 2022.
But Bradley might not be the first person on her team to get to 21 homers as Melissa (30-2-1) opens a best-of-3 Class 5A Region II quarterfinal series against Humble Kingwood Park at 6 p.m. Thursday at Rusk High School. Adrian, a freshman catcher, has hit 19 home runs, and Caigan Crabtree has hit 17 homers.
“It’s a good competition. We laugh about it all the time,” Adrian said. “It pushes us. We want to beat each other, but we’re really happy when each other gets a home run or a good hit.”
Bradley transferred to Melissa from Prosper Rock Hill this season and was out from April until January after having shoulder surgery. She couldn’t swing a bat for about six months.
“I tore my main ligament off the bone and the bottom part of my rotator cuff,” Bradley said. “Some days were really hard, when I felt like I couldn’t throw or just having minor setbacks. But I’m finally in a flow to where it feels good and it feels healthy. I can lift and it doesn’t feel sore.”
The state record for most home runs in a season that is recognized by the National Federation of State High School Associations is 30 by El Paso Eastlake’s Kasey Flores in 2018. The national record is 35 by Shelby Holley from Alabama in 2011.
Bradley said she only hit four home runs last year, but she is used to facing elite competition. She and Adrian are 16U teammates in select ball for Texas Glory — one of the premier clubs in the country and a program that has 128 players committed to play in college for the classes of 2024 and 2025.
“Hutton probably has the best hand-eye coordination that I’ve ever seen,” Cassie Crabtree said. “She just doesn’t miss. It doesn’t matter where you pitch it or what the count is.
“[Bradley] is a competitor and does a very good job of making adjustments pitch by pitch. She analyzes the game, analyzes the pitchers.”
Caigan Crabtree might not be the only Melissa star who ends up at Texas.
Bradley said she is open “to anything” when it comes to recruiting, but she added that “I’m hoping to go to Texas or A&M. Texas has been a dream school for me since I was little.” Adrian said her dream schools are Texas and Florida, and that she also likes Tennessee.
Adrian has six home runs in the last five games, and Caigan Crabtree has homered three times in the last four games. Melissa, ranked No. 21 in the nation by MaxPreps, has hit seven home runs in three different games — twice against Princeton and once against Greenville.
Melissa averages 10.4 runs per game, with Bradley hitting second in the order, followed by Crabtree and Adrian. They have combined for 164 hits, 104 extra-base hits and 166 RBIs in 33 games, and Crabtree leads the team with a .582 batting average and is followed by Bradley (.561) and Adrian (.543). Bradley and Adrian each have a three-home run game, and Bradley has five multiple-homer games.
Melissa, which is trying to get to the state tournament for the first time, has one of the premier pitchers in the state in Michigan State pledge Alex Starr (24-1, 0.87 ERA). But instead of practicing against her, Melissa hitters see about 75 to 100 balls every day from pitching machines that are set to different speeds.
It also helps that Cassie Crabtree, in her third season as Melissa’s coach, played at Forney and was a pitcher and a hitter at Southern Arkansas. She considered herself a power hitter and has taught her players the value of the long ball.
“I’m big on the home runs,” she said. “If you have power, you can do a lot.”
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