Friday, April 26, 2024
Despite a loss to Waco La Vega to end the regular season, the Gatesville Hornets softball team is back in the playoffs for the second straight year.
The Lady Hornets will have a playoff warmup against West on Monday night, then take on District 24-4A champion Burnet in the bi-district round. The date and location have yet to be determined.
Gatesville led La Vega 2-1 heading into the sixth inning but the Lady Pirates scored twice in the top of the inning and once more in the top of the seventh inning. In the sixth, they scored their two runs despite just one hit as a pair of errors contributed to both runs scoring.
In the seventh inning, three straight singles upped the La Vega lead to 4-2.
La Vega took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and held it until the bottom of the third inning when senior Kagen Hunt launched a game-tying solo home run to left field. Hunt also doubled, and was the only Hornet with multiple hits.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Hornets took a 2-1 lead after Brinlee Ford singled, advanced to third on an error, then scored on a passed ball.
Hunt was 2-for-3 while Ford, Grace Carothers, and Kinlee Gardner had one hit apiece. Madiston Hester and Kallie Featherston combined to strike out eight and allowed just two earned runs in the circle.
In the bi-district round of the playoffs, Gatesville will face a Burnet team that has slowly ascended to a spot as one of the premier teams in Texas. In 2018, the Lady Bulldogs were 4-20 and were winless in district, but have steadily improved each season. They reached the playoffs in 2021 then were 18-10 in 2022 but missed the postseason. In 2023, they have made the leap finishing the regular season at 21-10 with a 9-1 record in 24-4A. Currently No. 20 in the TGCA state rankings, the Lady Bulldogs allowed just 12 runs in their 10 district games.
