Thursday, April 25, 2024
Gatesville High School’s Lady Hornets softball team used a late-inning offensive surge Tuesday to blast China Spring, 11-5.
The Lady Hornets (15-10, 1-1) trailed 5-4 heading into the top of the sixth inning but scored seven runs over the final two frames to pick up the win and level their district record. It was a reversal of fortune for the Lady Hornets as they lost their league opener 8-4 to Robinson when the Lady Rockets scored four times in the seventh inning to steal the win.
Those late-inning struggles were absent in the win over China Spring.
“I thought the girls did a great job of sticking to a game plan. Every inning was a little battle and our focus was to score one more run than them each inning,” said head coach Andrea Holbrook. “I know it seems pretty obvious, but it helped us with our mental endurance today.”
Gatesville scored at least one run in five different innings including two in the fourth, three in the sixth, and four in the seventh. Eight of the starters in the lineup had hits, led by a three-hit, four-RBI night from Grace Carothers. Raylee Glover, Madison Hester, Kinlee Gardner, and Brinlee Ford each had two hits and Lauren Stuard walked twice, had one hit, and scored three runs.
Hester allowed just two earned runs and struck out four in her complete-game gem.
In their three-run sixth, the Lady Hornets manufactured their first run thanks to a walk from Stuard, a sacrifice bunt from Kallie Featherston, and an RBI double from Carothers. Hester then scored Carothers with an RBI single and Glover doubled to put runners on second and third. An errant pickoff throw scored Hester to make it 7-5.
In the seventh, Gatesville scored four more runs on just three hits. Kegan Hunt singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Carothers to make it 8-5, and Lauren Stuard scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 9-5. Their final insurance runs came when Aliyah Trotter scored on a double from Glover and an RBI single from Hester.
“We executed a ton of situational hitting that put us in a good position to score runs and Madison pitched well but defense really stepped up tonight and played well behind her. Overall it was a good team win,” Holdbrook said.
In their district-opening loss to Robinson, the Lady Hornets were led offensively by Gardner who had two hits and an RBI. Featherston, Glover, Ford, and Ibet Carmona each had hits. Trotter stole two bases in the loss.
Carmona leads the Lady Hornets in hitting through 25 games with a .481 average. Glover and Hester are both hitting over .400 as well at .478 and .435, respectively. Glover has 14 extra base hits to lead the team.
Gatesville continued district play with a matchup with Connally on March 24.
