Caroline Taylor is hesitant to say hitting a softball is easy. The Vernon sophomore certainly makes it seem that way at times, though.

Since joining the Lady Lions last season as a freshman, all Taylor has done is hit. She led the Wichita Falls area with a .621 batting average as a freshman, earning a spot on the Red River Diamond Dozen team.

Taylor is a clear favorite to repeat her Diamond Dozen nomination after following up her breakout freshman season with a stellar sophomore campaign. And her sophomore season will conclude in the same place as her freshman year – McCombs Field in Austin.

Taylor and the Lady Lions play in their second straight Class 4A State Tournament this week, beginning with a semifinals matchup with Emory Rains at noon Thursday. The other semifinal pits Beeville Jones against Liberty at 9 a.m. Thursday. The two semifinals meet for the Class 4A state title at noon Saturday.

“If you need a hit, Caroline will put it somewhere,” Vernon coach Jena Cecil said. “She's been a real clutch hitter, too. I knew what she could do when she came in as a freshman.”

Cecil was so confident in Taylor's abilities that she immediately slotted her at shortstop defensively.

“She's everything you could want in a shortstop,” Cecil said. “She's a great athlete and her range at the position is phenomenal.”

Taylor has thrived playing high school softball and credits her time playing travel ball as a key reason.

“I've been playing since I was really young, but I've always played up (an age group),” Taylor said. “So I've always faced pitchers that were stronger than the ones my age. When I got to high school, I was ready. I don't want to say it was easy, but I don't feel like it was anything I hadn't seen.”

Taylor's .621 batting average as a freshman may be a little inflated because Vernon didn't score many errors during the season. She was also credited four home runs, four triples, 14 doubles, 42 RBIs and 35 runs.

But anyone who saw Taylor swing a bat could notice that her talent was very real. The Lady Lions were more consistent with stat keeping during Taylor's sophomore year with more errors being recorded.

Taylor still batted a healthy .510 with six home runs, seven triples, five doubles, 40 RBIs and 38 runs.

“I was hitting really good last year, but this year it's kind of slowed down,” Taylor said. “That's softball. Sometimes they catch the ball.”

Taylor has gotten spoiled with the Lady Lions, though. She's in her second season with the team and headed to her second straight Class 4A State Tournament. She's trying to not take it for granted, understanding that most players go their entire careers without sniffing state.

“It's been back-to-back years of amazing,” Taylor said. “Last year we were kind of slow adjusting to the atmosphere at state. This year we've been on a mission the whole time. We just wanted to get back to state.”

Taylor's first appearance at state may not have resulted in a win for her team, but she continued to do what she had all season, having a hand in both of the Lady Lions' runs in a 6-2 loss to Liberty Hill in the state semifinals.

Taylor got Vernon on the board in the top of the fourth with a two-out single, bringing in Jade Guzman. She tied the game when MaKyleigh Leija doubled to right-center, scoring Taylor from first.

Run production is easy to expect of Taylor and she'll be hoping to push a few more across Thursday. The Lady Lions don't intend on traveling to Austin just to lose in the semifinals again. Of course, Taylor is ready to do her part, but it's one of her teammates she says is the key to Vernon claiming the program's first state title.

“It's the seniors' year,” Taylor said. “I think (senior pitcher Jade Guzman) is going to do awesome and we're going to win. When Jade pitches like she can, you don't even have to field basically. It's just strikeout after strikeout. There's no stress when she's pitching like she has been lately. It's so easy.”

Easy is exactly the way Taylor makes the game look.