Friday, April 19, 2024
Despite falling to Robinson, the Gatesville High School softball team is firmly in the driver’s seat to be the third seed out of District 23-4A, with four regular-season games remaining.
The Lady Hornets wrapped up the first round of district play on March 31 with a 7-4 win over Waco La Vega. They lost 1-0 to the Lady Rockets on Wednesday and faced winless China Spring on Thursday.
Through April 5, Salado leads the district at 6-0 with Robinson in second at 5-1. Waco Connally is also 3-3 but the Hornets beat the Lady Cadets 8-7 in their first meeting of the season.
In the win over La Vega the Lady Hornets had 13 hits – seven for extra bases. Brinlee Ford and Raylee Glover had three hits apiece, with Glover doubling twice and Ford smashing a double and a triple. Kinlee Glover had two hits and drove in two runs.
Madison Hester and Kallie Featherston shared the pitching duties in the win and combined to allow just one earned run. They struck out nine Lady Pirates and gave up only four hits.
Gatesville needed just six pitches to jump out to a first-inning lead it would never relinquish. Glover led off with a double and scored on a triple from Hester. A Kinlee Gardner groundout scored Hester to make it 2-0.
They got another run in the third inning thanks to an RBI single from Kegan Hunt, then upped their lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth after Ford tripled, then scored on a Kaitlin Stuard RBI groundout.
La Vega got three runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-3, but the Lady Hornets came back with two more runs in the top of the sixth. An RBI double from Glover scored Aliyah Trotter to make it 5-3, then Glover scored on a double by Gardner to make it 6-3.
The Lady Hornets’ final runs came in the top of the seventh on doubles by Hunt and Ford and an RBI single from Featherston.
The loss to Robinson was postponed by one night due to severe weather and was a pitcher’s duel with the Lady Rockets’ Raelynn Van Zee battling Hester and Featherston. Gatesville’s duo gave up only two hits and allowed just one run while Van Zee allowed no hits and struck out 11.
A win over the Lady Cougars would essentially lock up a playoff spot for Gatesville. A win in their rematch with Connally on April 11 would likely secure the third playoff spot. The Lady Hornets are scheduled to finish the regular season at home against La Vega on April 18.
