NEDERLAND — Storylines don’t often work out in sports outside of movies, but the Nederland softball team will get one this year that couldn’t have broken more perfectly for this team riding a wave of momentum.

When the Lady Bulldogs take on Montgomery in a Class 4A area round three-game playoff series that starts at home tonight and concludes Saturday in Montgomery, they’ll be attempting to get a little revenge on the team that ousted them last year. They’ll also be attempting to continue this improbable run under Monte Barrow that’s seen them win eight straight games since he was named head coach in the middle of the season.

Oh, and they’ll be doing it against a 22-3 team that went to the Region III finals a year ago before losing to the eventual state champs.

As I said, storylines don’t usually get better than that.

Montgomery will prove to be one of the stiffest tests Nederland has faced this season. The Lady Bears went 12-2 in district play, losing to both Brenham and Magnolia. Montgomery has also scored double-digit runs in three of its last four games, averaging 9.5 runs per game over that stretch.

The Lady Bears are led by senior catcher Cali Lanphear, who has committed to play at Texas A&M, where she will join former teammate Brittany Clopton, a freshman outfielder for the Aggies. Lanphear has hit seven home runs this season for the Lady Bears and stolen five bases.

Two more of her teammates have also hit multiple home runs, as senior first baseman Ashley Webb has three homers and junior shortstop Devon Tunning also has three.

Montgomery is led on the mound by Katelyn Sanders, who won nine district games for the Lady Bears with an ERA of 1.15 and 48 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings. The Lady Bears also have started Morgan Skinner, who has four wins of her own and a pair of saves in 14 innings of work this season.

Though the Lady Bears lost to eventual state champ Santa Fe last season, they pushed the Lady Indians to the brink. In the three game series in the regional finals, Montgomery lost the first game 1-0, won the second 3-1 and lost the third 11-10. Santa Fe only played two other games in the entire playoffs that were decided by one run, so Montgomery must feel like it came very close to a state title.

Montgomery has also been dominant during the regular season. The Lady Bears only allowed more than two runs in a game twice during district play. In their first game of the season, the Lady Bears gave up five runs to Stratford, but scored 10 and in their last game, they gave up eight runs to Magnolia and scored just five. The Lady Bears also had a streak of four shutouts in their last six district games and beat Caney Creek 11-2 in a one-game bidistrict series last week.

Still, with the way Nederland has been playing defensively and the always dangerous Emily Nolan at the plate, there is a strong chance that the Lady Bulldogs can hang tight to Montgomery and send them home early. At least, that’s what happens in the movies.