Brandon Ogden (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Senior Brooke Davis put into perspective what the Tyler Legacy Lady Raiders have accomplished this season on the softball field.

“This is absolutely spectacular,” Davis said. “Whenever I was a freshman, I started on varsity, and we won two games the entire season. Now, we have won 23 games. These girls are amazing and playing amazing.”

That led me to dig a little deeper into the history of the Lady Raiders softball program, first as Robert E. Lee High School and now Tyler Legacy High School for the past two school years.

I knew it was a program that hadn’t experienced much success over the years, but knew they had won a playoff game in 2010.

What I didn’t know was that was the first and only playoff win in the program’s history until this past weekend. And talking to former Tyler Morning Telegraph sports writer Chris Parry, who covered Robert E. Lee High School from 2004-17, he shared some information about that lone postseason victory.

Parry said the Lady Raiders were the fourth-place team from District 11-5A and had to face Bryan, which was ranked No. 15 in the state. Despite getting no hits, Lee took a 2-0 victory for the softball program’s first playoff victory. The Lady Raiders then fell to Sachse in the area round, 3-2.

Lee made it to the playoffs in 2011 and 2015, getting swept both times. But even in those playoff years, the Lady Raiders weren’t winning a lot of games. Before this season, the Lady Raiders had never reached the 20-win mark.

“It was a graveyard for softball coaches,” Parry said. “There were coaches who had great aspirations and were full of energy, but it just never happened.”

In 2017, Justin Kniffen was hired to take over the program.

The season before Kniffen arrived, Lee went 6-23 overall and 2-12 in district play.

“It’s an opportunity to turn something around,” Kniffen said when he was hired. “We did that here (at Harleton). It’s a challenge sure, but the administration is determined to turn it around. To turn it into something Lee and city of Tyler can be proud of.”

At Harleton, Kniffen led the program to a record of 339-118 in 14 seasons with trips to the state semifinals in 2010 and 2016 and appearances in the state championship game in 2014 and 2015.

“A lot of my coaching friends think I am crazy,” Kniffen said to the Tyler Morning Telegraph about his new challenge with the Lady Raiders when he was hired. “I always like being told that something can’t be done. I am going to stay, do it right and compete. The (kids) need to be assured that this isn’t a one and done for me. My family, the administration and everyone is behind it to make it a winner.”

He knew it was going to be a process. That first year, the Lady Raiders were 2-18.

In 2020, the Lady Raiders went 6-8-1 in the COVID-19 shortened year.

And in 2021, the turnaround accelerated. Legacy recorded a program-best 19 wins and went 7-5 in district play to advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and just the seventh time in program history.

“The playoffs was a goal, so we met goal one,” Kniffen said before the 2021 postseason. “I’m really excited for those that have been here, the juniors and sophomores that have kind of paid the price getting to this point. It’s very rewarding, especially with the group that we have that is relatively young, and we don’t lose anybody.”

Legacy was eliminated by Sachse in two games in the bi-district round — 9-0 and 6-2.

As the 2021-22 season was about to begin, the Lady Raiders knew something special could happen. Finally with an on-campus field and a place to practice and with almost everyone on the roster returning from a season ago, Legacy was ready to take that next step.

On Thursday night, the Lady Raiders hosted Garland at that on-campus facility for Game 1 of a bi-district series. The Lady Raiders won 10-0 in five innings. In the Lady Raiders’ previous 11 postseason games in program history, they had scored a total of nine runs.

“It feels good,” Legacy head softball coach Justin Kniffen said. “It’s step one. We’ve got to go back up there tomorrow and beat them at their place, hopefully one time. But it was big to get this one here.”

The Lady Raiders did just that, going to Garland to complete a sweep of a program that won state titles in 2006 and 2007 and advanced to the state tournament in 2008 with a 5-1 victory.

“I just kept repeating to the girls and subconsciously to myself how proud I am of them,” Kniffen said. “We’re not done, but we’re happy. We’re bi-district champs, and that hasn’t happened here in a long time.”

Next up for the Lady Raiders (23-7-1) is a matchup with No. 18 Mansfield Lake Ridge. Lake Ridge swept Bryan (15-1, 5-2), which was the same program the Lady Raiders had previously earned their only playoff victory against.

Legacy will face Lake Ridge in a one-game playoff at 7 p.m. Friday in Mansfield.

2003 — Lost in bi-district to Mesquite (2-1)

2004 — Lost in bi-district to North Mesquite (10-0)

2009 — Lost in bi-district to A&M Consolidated (13-0)

2010 — Defeated Bryan in bi-district (2-0), lost in area to Sachse (3-2)

2011 — Lost in bi-district to Temple (3-0, 10-2)

2015 — Lost in bi-district to Waco Midway (11-0, 9-0)

2021 — Lost in bi-district to Sachse (9-0, 6-2)

2022 — Defeated Garland in bi-district (10-0, 5-1), facing Mansfield Lake Ridge in area at 7 p.m. Friday in Mansfield