In the midst of preparing for their Class 4A Division I Region I semifinals series against Dumas, three members of the Brownwood Lady Lions softball team on Wednesday signed to continue their athletic and academic careers at the college level, including catcher Chloe Walls who is headed to Lubbock Christian University.

A three-time district catcher of the year, during her current senior softball campaign Walls is batting .380 with seven doubles, five triples, one home run and 25 RBIs.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since I was probably 8 years old,” Walls said of playing at the college level. “I wanted to play travel ball, I did all the weekend tournaments, my whole life has been dedicated to softball. It’s been really fun and I’m really excited.”

Regarding why she chose Lubbock Christian, Walls said, “I knew I wanted to be in Lubbock. I’m a big Tech fan and that was the closest thing. One of my best friends committed to play softball there, too. We’re rooming together and I’m going to be able to do this all with my best friend.”

Walls also entertained an offer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before deciding on LCU.

As for being in the third round of the playoffs in her final season of high school softball, Walls said, “This is the farthest we’ve been since I’ve been here. It’s all about memories for me. We’re about to go on our first overnight trip so I’m going to soak it all in and enjoy every moment.”

Walls said her fondest memories of her time at Brownwood High School are, “Definitely the athletic program. I love all the girls, we’re all so close. Traveling together and doing life is very, very fun. And beating Stephenville in Stephenville.”

In the classroom, Walls intends to study Kinesiology with plans on becoming a physical therapist in a hospital setting.

The Lady Lions (19-11), who under head coach Cherita Munguia have made their deepest postseason run since reaching the state tournament in 2016, face No. 4 Dumas in a best of three series at Lubbock Cooper with Game 1 at 6 p.m. Thursday and Games 2 and 3, if needed, at 11 a.m. Friday.