Former Texas High standout Lauren Allred is a fast, rising softball star

By Rick Thomas

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lauren Allred, a former Texas High softball star, has been living in a dream season for upstart Texas Tech.

Allred has been a key piece in propelling the Big 12 kingpin Red Raiders to runners-up for the national championship against the highly touted Texas Longhorns.

The best-of-three championship series was tied at a game apiece entering Friday night’s deciding game in the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park.

No. 6 Texas rallied to win the opener, 2-1, but 12th-ranked Tech held on to win Game 2, 4-3, but would fall short 10-4 in the deciding Game 3 against the Longhorns.

Allred, a 5-9 redshirt sophomore, smacked a walk-off sacrifice fly to send the Red Raiders

past four-time defending national champion Oklahoma, 3-2. That upset victory earned Tech its first championship series appearance against the Horns, who reached the finals for the third time in four years.

Allred’s heroics were witnessed by her proud parents, Matt and Patricia Allred of Wake Village. 

“You didn’t expect us to watch our daughter’s first World Series on TV, did you?” Matt said from his Oklahoma City hotel room. “We’ve been here since the Series began.

“Lauren’s certainly given us some exciting performances. It’s like living in a dream.”

Her mother added, “This is history in the making and Lauren has played a big part in it.”

Lauren, Tech’s first baseman, has been a clutch performer by hitting .368 with 9 homers, 3 triples, and driving in 54 runs.

“I’d say she was confident, perhaps a nervous confident, about Tech’s chances of winning the title,” Matt said. “I knew the Longhorns were loaded again, but I didn’t see NiJaree losing a series. The one game, yeah, but not the series.”

Lauren, 21, is enjoying one of her most successful seasons. She bats left-handed and throws right-handed.

“She was the best stick in the state at Texas High,” said Robbie Hatfield, former Lady Tigers softball coach. “I wouldn’t have traded her for anybody in the state because she was that good of a hitter.”

Allred may be the first Texarkana player to compete in the WCWS, according to local coaches.

“I honestly believe Lauren is the first to make it to the World Series,” said Hatfield, who retired after teaching and coaching for 42 years.

“I certainly don’t know of any others,” said former Liberty-Eylau coach Tom Middlebrooks. “My daughter, Lacey, played in two regionals, but they lost to Oklahoma each time.”

Lauren was Texas High’s two-time district MVP.

“I believe she won a superlative award every year,” Hatfield said. 

“We were playing Forney in the state playoffs, and they had a pitcher who played for Kansas or Kansas State.

“Lauren was just a freshman then, but she hit two line drives against the fence. You could tell she was going to be a good one even at that young age.”

Her freshman stats are eye-catching. She batted .622 with 7 home runs, a triple, and 16 doubles. She knocked in 43 runs and scored 46.

Middlebrooks said Lauren was so gifted that she played Dixie Boys baseball.

“She led the entire Texarkana boys ' team with 12 home runs as a senior,” said Middlebrooks, whose son, Will, played for the Boston Red Sox. “She knew how to swing a bat.”

Despite her illustrious high school career, she didn’t draw much attention at the college level.

“She wasn’t highly recruited by colleges, especially the D1s, where she wanted to go,” Matt said. “She knew she had enough talent to play on the next level, so she continued working hard to attend a big-time school.”

Lauren ended up at Louisiana-Lafayette, where she continued her hitting prowess. She earned first-team all-Sun Belt honors, hitting .375 with 12 homers, 47 RBIs, and just eight strikeouts in 136 at-bats.

“Her freshman year at Louisiana, Lauren was one of the best hitters I’ve seen in 15 years of college coaching,” said Tech coach Gerry Glasco, who left Louisiana to take the Red Raiders job in Lubbock, Texas, before this season.

Going into her sophomore season, she tore her oblique while taking live batting practice.

“I overswung on one of them and I felt it pull,” Lauren said. “Then I tried to work through it, and it just kept getting worse.”

An X-ray confirmed the tear, ending her sophomore year after 12 games, forcing her to redshirt.

“It’s gonna take her a while,” Glasco said. “She’s still not back to where she probably was, but she’s getting close.”

Her father said Lauren worked hard to heal physically.

“It was really tough on her mentally, but she remained positive,” Matt said. “She was determined to get back and not lose her position to another girl.”

Lauren put in long hours to rediscover her swing, trying not to overthink any aches or pains that came along the way.

Lauren said when Glasco moved to Tech, she knew she would follow him. 

The former Texas High phenom put her name into the transfer portal with a “Do Not Contact” tag applied.

“There was nothing that was going to change her mind,” her mother said.

“I knew right away I was gonna go with him, no matter what,” Lauren said. “My freshman year, he believed in me more than I did, and then he helped me get to the point where I was.”

Glasco went out and talked Canady, a two-time All-American pitcher who throws fastballs in the 70s, into becoming a Red Raider. Tech’s Matador Club enticed the pitcher with a million-dollar deal. She had led Stanford by igniting the Cardinal into back-to-back World Series.

“NiJaree is one of the best, if not the best,” said Matt. “She’s had another incredible year in the circle.”

Lauren was a two-star sport (softball and volleyball) for Texas High. She graduated in the top 10 percent of her class, and she has maintained a 3.9 GPA at Tech. She plans on majoring in sports management.

Her two brothers, Connor and Brendan, played baseball for Texas High.

“You can see how dynamic a player she is, and how much of a factor she can be,” Glasco said. “She’s got speed, and she runs the bases extremely well. She’s extremely intelligent and she has continued to improve. She is a defensive stopper at first base.

“I think she keeps getting better and better.”

Personable stats aside, Lauren would like nothing better than a national championship, her father said.

“She was so close to achieving that dream,” Matt said. “This entire World Series was amazing, and we couldn’t be prouder of Lauren.”

Her mom, Patricia, said she’s been getting phone calls, messages, and emails from numerous Texarkana fans.

“We’ve been hearing from people we haven’t seen in quite a while,” she said. “The outpouring of support and congratulations has overwhelmed us.”

Meanwhile, Lauren Allred is a rising star in the ever-popular softball world.

“I’m hoping to keep growing from here, but I’m not quite where I want to be yet, but I think this is a good step in the right direction,” Lauren said.

Rick Thomas can be reached for comments or story suggestions at his email: rickythomas7140@icloud.com