Photos Courtesy of Carter Pirtle and Submitted
The Pampa Lady Harvesters (1-0) opened up their season by hosting the Dalhart Lady Wolves on Tuesday afternoon. It was the first game for Head Coach Denise Browning. Senior Hallie Reynolds was in the circle getting the start for Pampa.
“It was a fun start to the 2026 softball season at Lady Harvester field. The girls have been working so incredibly hard since we started in January, and the progress was very detectable in our 17-1 victory over Dalhart. The pitching was slower than we were used to, but the girls made the adjustments, and really got the bats going. I am proud of the performance, and I know this is a big confidence builder going into the West Texas Classic next weekend in Midland. Emme Hill came out strong in her first career start as a freshman with a three-run homerun,” Browning said.
Reynolds came out on fire with three straight strikeouts in the top of the first. Sophomore shortstop Kinley Duke bunted to lead off the game in the bottom of the first and reached on an error. Sophomore centerfielder Addi Bagwell hit a grounder to second and reached on an error as well. Senior catcher Ella Hudson came up to bat and hit a fly ball and reached on an error as well. Duke was stealing third on the play and ended up coming home to score as well as Bagwell to make the score 2-0. Freshman third baseman Emme Hill walked in her first at-bat. Junior first baseman Michelle Gallegos singled on a grounder to short which saw Hudson come home on a steal during the play to make the score 3-0. Sophomore left fielder Claire Hall hit a grounder to third and reached on an error. Hill came home on the play to make it 4-0. Senior Designated Hitter Alicia Jiminez singled to third to score Reynolds and make it 5-0. Duke walked with the bases loaded to score Hall. Jiminez stole second and third during the at-bat. Bagwell came up and tripled to left to score Jiminez and Duke and make the score 8-0 after one inning of play. Duke also recorded a steal in the at-bat.
Reynolds continued to dominate in the top of the second as she struck out the side again. However, two hits ended up plating one run for the Wolves to make the score 8-1.
Hill doubled to left to begin the bottom of the second. Gallegos singled to left to score Hill and make it 9-1. Reynolds came up and singled to short and that scored Gallegos. Gallegos also stole second during the at-bat. The score was now 10-1 Lady Harvesters. Hall walked and Reynolds stole second during her at-bat. Jiminez singled to left to score Hall and make it 12-1. Duke doubled to center. Bagwell walked and Jiminez scored on a wild pitch during the at-bat. Hudson doubled to third to score Duke and Bagwell and make the score 15-1. Bagwell also stole second during the at-bat. Hill came up again and continued to make big plays in her first varsity game with a two-run homer to center to score Hudson and herself. The score was now 17-1 Pampa. Reynolds doubled to right for the last hit of the game for Pampa.
Reynolds continued her outstanding pitching performance by striking out the side in order to end the game via run-rule after three innings.
Final score: Pampa 17, Dalhart 1.
“We are preparing now for our West Texas Classic Tournament in Midland starting the 19th-21st. We have gained four varsity players (two returners) with the conclusion of basketball season, so that is exciting to finally see our team as a whole. We start out the tournament against a very good Floydada team. They were undefeated last year in district play, and although they are a 2A team, I think it will be a good match-up for us. We then will be playing two 6A teams, a 5A team, and Pecos that is also a 4A team. This will be a great opportunity for this young team to go down to Midland to compete, and learn from older programs,” Browning said.
Stat Recap
Reynolds pitched three innings allowing two hits, one earned run, no walks, and struck out all nine batters she faced. She also recorded the win.
Duke went 1-2 with three runs, a walk, a double, and two steals. Bagwell was 1-2 with a triple, two runs, two RBIs, one walk, and two steals. Hudson was 1-3 with two runs, two RBIS, a double, and three steals. Hill was 2-2 with a double, a homerun, two RBIs, three runs, a walk, and two steals. Gallegos was 2-2 with one run, one RBI, one walk, and two steals. Reynolds was 2-2 with a double, two runs, a walk, and two steals. Hall was 0-2 with two runs, one RBI, one walk, and one steal. Jiminez was 2-2 with two runs, two RBIs, and two steals.
As a team, Pampa had 11 hits, 17 runs, 10 RBIs, six walks, and 16 stolen bases.
The Lady Harvesters will play next weekend the 19th-21st as they travel to Midland for the West Texas Classic Tournament. They will play Floydada and Colorado City on Thursday. They will play Pecos, Pebble Hills, and Hanks on Friday. They will play Socorro on Saturday morning.
