Friday, April 26, 2024
After dropping a playoff warmup game against Class 3A power West, the Gatesville softball team rolled into the postseason for the second consecutive season – this time against District 24-4A champion Burnet.
Gatesville fell 7-0 to the Lady Trojans on Monday. They fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, then allowed four more runs in the third. Kinlee Gardner had a pair of hits while Kagen Hunt and Kaitlin Stuard had one hit apiece.
Kallie Featherston threw 3.1 innings in relief and allowed only one hit and struck out two.
The Lady Hornets (17-17) and Lady Bulldogs met on Thursday in Burnet in the opener then played game two on Friday night in Gatesville. In the event a third game is necessary, it will be played on Saturday at noon at a site to be determined.
The Lady Bulldogs captured their first outright district title for the first time since 2016 with a 9-1 mark. Their only district loss was a 4-3 setback to district runner-up Gateway Prep in Georgetown. In their nine district wins they averaged 11 runs per game while allowing less than one run per game. They scored 103 runs in district while allowing only 12.
After winning a share of a district title in 2016, the Lady Bulldogs program endured a bit of a drought but have slowly ascended back to powerhouse status under head coach Hailey Wooten. After a seven-win season in 2021, the Lady Bulldogs won 18 games in 2022, and are 22-10 thus far in 2023.
The Lady Hornets have been led offensively by Raylee Glover, who finished the regular season with a .413 average. Six other Lady Hornets (Kinlee Gardner, Ibet Carmona, Kagen Hunt, Madison Hester, Lauren Stuard, and Brinlee Ford) are all hitting over .300. Glover has 16 doubles and two home runs on the season while Gardner (4), Stuard (4), Ford (3), Stuard (2), and Hunt (1) have all contributed long balls.
Gatesville will throw Hester and Kallie Featherston in some order in the bi-district round. The duo has thrown 168 of the Lady Hornets 173 innings played this season. Hester has struck out 106 batters while Featherston has fanned 74.
The GHS-Burnet winner will advance to next week's area round to face Smithville or Houston ISD.
