AUSTIN – It has been a memorable softball season for Celina senior third baseman Brittanie Knowles and younger sister Lindsie, a freshman left fielder, as they got to be high school teammates for the first and only time.

Friday's Class 3A state semifinal will be especially unforgettable when the Knowles family looks back on 2009.

Brittanie was 1-for-2 and scored two runs, and Lindsie was 1-for-2 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI as Celina beat Longview Spring Hill, 4-1, in front of a crowd of 791 at McCombs Field. Celina (37-5) reached the state championship game for the first time in softball and will play Needville (34-8) at 2 p.m. today.

"It's been really interesting having my sister on the field. She has really stepped it up," said Brittanie, who will play for UT-Tyler next season. "Knowing that I'll never get to play with her again, it's really sweet knowing that we're in the state championship game."

Brittanie is at state for the second time. She was a freshman on the 2006 Celina team that lost in the 2A state semifinals.

With Friday's game scoreless in the bottom of the third, Brittanie reached on a two-out single and scored on a triple by her sister. Pitcher Kylie Roos then singled to drive in Lindsie, who was determined to play one more game with her sister.

"I was very nervous. I got thinking about that," Lindsie said. "I just wanted to make it a very memorable game, and hopefully not the last one."

In the fifth, Brittanie was hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second by her sister and scored on a sacrifice fly by Roos to give Celina a 4-0 lead. Roos (31-3) pitched a two-hitter, walked five and struck out six. She escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the sixth with only one run scoring.

2 p.m. today, McCombs Field in Austin

Celina (37-5): Northwestern State signee Kylie Roos (31-3) pitched a two-hitter and was 2-for-2 with two RBIs in Celina's 4-1 state semifinal win over Longview Spring Hill. Roos will be pitching in a state final for the second time. She was the starting pitcher for the Aubrey team that was the 2A state runner-up in 2007. Celina has averaged 8.6 runs per game while winning 20 of its last 21 games.

Needville (34-8): Needville beat Gatesville, 2-1, in its state semifinal as Cally Falls (30-7) pitched a one-hitter and Shauni Prihoda homered. Becca Rademacher, who entered the state tournament with a team-best .443 batting average, was 1-for-3 and scored a run against Gatesville. Needville, the District 26-3A runner-up, is in the state tournament for the first time. It has won 11 of its last 12 games.

Greg Riddle