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The Pampa Lady Harvester softball team (2-5) hit the road last weekend to Midland and competed in the West Texas Classic. It was the first tournament of their 2026 Spring Campaign. The biggest thing about tournament play is that it allows you to play multiple games over just a few days to gain experience, build team chemistry and camaraderie, and prepare for district play.
“Our Lady Harvesters traveled to the West Texas Classic in Midland last week, and saw some really great teams. We competed in every game, even having leads up until the fourth inning in some, but the experience and depth of those teams eventually led to their victory. In our final game, we matched up with Pecos, and we put on our best showing. Our bats came alive, and we took advantage of some key errors on their part while running the bases. We had some outstanding plays on the field also to bring us to an 18-2 victory,” Head Coach Denise Browning said. “We had a few young ladies that put on a show at the plate all weekend. Michelle Gallegos Venzor hit one home run, Emme Hill with two home runs, and Brooklyn Warren hit a huge bomb to finish out the tournament with three home runs.”
The tournament kicked off with a game against the 2A Floydada Lady Winds. It was a pitcher’s duel until the bottom of the fourth as both teams went down in 1-2-3 order in every frame before that. The Lady Winds broke up the scoring and the game with four runs in that inning. Freshman Emme Hill singled to right in the top of the fifth as Pampa tried to start a rally. Senior Hallie Reynolds reached base on an error later in the inning to score Hill.
After five, Pampa trailed 4-1. Floydada added one more run in the fifth, and the score stayed the same until the bottom of the sixth when the Lady Winds added four more to take a 10-1 lead into the final frame. Hill smashed a homer to left field in the top of the seventh to cut the lead by one. Final score: Floydada 10, Pampa 2.
Hill was 2-3 with a home run, one RBI, and two runs scored. Sophomore Myla Zarate had the one other hit for the Lady Harvesters. Reynolds had four strikeouts in the circle.
Thursday’s second game was against the 2A Colorado Lady Wolves. Colorado struck first in the top of the first with two runs. Senior Ella Hudson tripled in the bottom of the first to start the threat for Pampa. Zarate singled to score Hudson to make it 2-1. Senior Michelle Gallegos doubled on a liner to right to score Zarate and tied the game 2-2.
Colorado took the lead back 3-2 after the second inning. Sophomore Brooklyn Warren smacked a homer to left in the third after a Gallegos double to put Pampa back in front at 4-3. In the fourth, Sophomore Kinley Duke singled to start the threat. Hudson singled to center to score Duke and put Pampa in front 5-3. The wheels fell off for Pampa in the fifth as Colorado put up six runs to take a 9-5 lead. In the sixth, Colorado expanded the lead to 16-5. Hudson hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to score Reynolds and cut the lead by one. Final score: Colorado 16, Pampa 6.
Hudson had two hits, a triple, two RBIs, and a run scored. Zarate had one hit, one RBI, and one run. Gallegos was 2-3, with two doubles, one RBI, and one run scored. Warren had a home run, two RBIs, and one run scored. Hill and Duke each had hits. Hudson and Duke each stole bases. Reynolds had six strikeouts in the circle for Pampa.
Friday kicked off with a game against the 6A Pebble Hills Spartans. Zarate hit a pop fly in the bottom of the second to score Reynolds and Duke as Pampa took a 2-0 lead in the game early. In the top of the third, the Spartans would reclaim the lead, 3-2. The game stayed locked at that score until the top of the fifth when the Spartans exploded for four more runs. Final score: Pebble Hills 7, Pampa 2.
Warren and Junior Payton Gowin had the two hits for the Lady Harvesters in the game.
Game two on Friday was against another El Paso school, the 5A Hanks Knights. The Knights’ bats started out the game on fire with 11 runs in the first inning. Reynolds hit a pop-up in the top of the second to score Warren and cut the deficit to 11-1. The bats for the Knights continued their hot hitting, making it 15-1 after two innings. The Lady Harvesters would not go quietly as Zarate singled on a ground ball to short to score Duke and make it 15-2. Gallegos then homered to center to score Zarate and herself and make it 15-4. Warren made it back-to-back dingers with a solo shot to left, and the score was 15-5. Hanks was held scoreless in their frame of the third inning. Pampa saw singles from Reynolds and Hudson in the fourth but could not put any runs together from them. Hanks added two more runs to make the score 17-5 after four innings, and the Lady Harvesters needed to score three runs to keep from being run-rule. Gallegos started the inning with a single. She would score on a wild pitch, but that was all she wrote for Pampa in game two. Final score: Hanks 17, Pampa 6.
Hudson, Zarate, Warren, Reynolds, Duke, and Gowin all collected a hit in the game. Gallegos had two hits. Warren and Gallegos had the home runs.
Saturday kicked off with another battle with an El Paso 6A school for Pampa in game three against the Socorro Lady Bulldogs.
The Lady Bulldogs started hot with four runs in the first inning. The game did not see any more runs until the bottom of the fourth when Socorro added two more to make it 6-0. Zarate singled to center to score Duke for the one and only run Pampa would score in the game. Socorro added one more run in the sixth. Final score: Socorro 7, Pampa 1.
Hudson, Zarate, and Warren recorded hits for Pampa. Zarate had an RBI, and Warren had a double. Duke scored the lone run. Gowin and Gallegos each had walks.
Saturday’s second game saw a matchup with the 4A Pecos Eagles. The Lady Harvesters hoped to come out of the tournament with a win and a positive note before heading into next week’s Iowa Park Classic.
Hudson started the game off by getting on base on an error. Gallegos singled to score Hudson and make it 1-0. Warren then singled. It looked like it could be a big inning for Pampa, but they only scored one run. Pecos scored two in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead. In the second, Senior Alicia Jiminez singled to right. She would come home to score and tie the game when Zarate reached on an error. After a leadoff double in the second, Reynolds was able to sit down the next three batters in order to make it a quiet frame for the Eagles. Warren stayed hot with another home run to lead off the third inning and put the Lady Harvesters back ahead 3-2. The game stayed at 3-2 until the top of the fourth when the Pampa bats came alive in a big way. Zarate reached on an error to lead off the inning. Warren doubled to score Zarate and Gallegos and make it 5-2 Pampa. Hill reached on an error that scored Warren, and it was 6-2. Reynolds singled on a grounder to center. Duke singled to center to score Hill. Hudson doubled to score Reynolds and Duke to make it 9-2 Pampa. Zarate continued the hit parade with a double to score Hudson. Gallegos did as well with a single to score Zarate and it was now 11-2 Lady Harvesters. Warren singled. Hill reached on an error which saw Gallegos and Warren both score and make the score 13-2 Pampa. Gowin hit into a fielder’s choice but it scored Hill on the play and Pampa led 14-2. Reynolds singled after her but the inning was finally over after Pampa plated 11 runs to break the game wide open. Reynolds, even with the long rest in the dugout, came out and struck out all three batters in the fourth to quickly put the Pampa bats back on the field. Duke and Hudson each singled to open the fifth. Gallegos singled to score both and make it 17-2 Pampa. Warren reached on an error and then Hill grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Warren and Pampa led 18-2. Reynolds made quick work of the Eagles in the final frame, sitting them down in 1-2-3 order. Final score: Pampa 18, Pecos 2.
Reynolds had a complete game on the mound, got the win, and had five strikeouts. She was also 2-4 at the plate. Hudson was 2-5 with a double, two RBIs, a stolen base, and three runs. Zarate had a double, an RBI, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Gallegos was 3-5 with four RBIs, and three runs scored. Warren was 4-5 with a double, a home run, a stolen base, three RBIs, and four runs scored. Hill had two RBIs, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Gowin had an RBI. Jiminez had a hit and a run scored. Duke was 2-3 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored.
Pampa was off in the middle of the week as they prepared for the Iowa Park Classic, which kicks off Thursday.
Thursday, Pampa will play the 2A Petrolia Pirates at 1:30 P.M. They will face the host 3A Iowa Park Hawks at 3:15 P.M.
Friday, Pampa plays the 5A Wichita Falls Memorial Mavericks at 10 A.M. They will also face the 3A Early Longhorns at 3:15 P.M.
Saturday, the tournament will conclude with the 2A Anson Tigers at 10:45 A.M.
Good luck and safe travels to the Lady Harvester softball team! This will be their last tune up before district play kicks off on March 3 at Canyon.
“We travel to Iowa Park for another tournament filled with great competition from the region. We will see a lot of our distrust opponents there as well. I’m excited to see our young team learn the game together, and start to build the relationships on and off the field. Every game we are seeing improvement, and I can’t wait to see how we perform this weekend,” Browning said.
