The Pampa Lady Harvesters (2-2, 4-12) traveled to Hereford Friday night looking to even up their district record against the Lady Whitefaces.
“It was a fun night in Hereford on Friday! We knew going into the game that Hereford was going to be a very close competitor, and we would have to be on our ‘A’ game,” Head Coach Denise Browning said.
In the first inning, Pampa could only get one runner on via a walk by Junior Michelle Gallegos. Hereford struck first with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to lead 1-0.
“We started off slow at the plate, but in the second we found our groove, and had some amazing hits. Everyone on the team hit well Friday night, especially Myla Zarate who hit her first career home run as a Lady Harvester! I am incredibly proud of our determination to continue to fight to the finish, and to pull off back to back district wins,” Browning said.
The bats came alive for Pampa in the second with a double on a line drive to center by Freshman Emme Hill. Junior Payton Gowin added another double of her own on a hard grounder to right and scored Hill to tie the game at one. Freshman Addi Bagwell made it three straight doubles as she doubled on a hard grounder to center which scored Gowin and gave Pampa the 2-1 lead. Freshman Blayklee Cooper walked. Senior Hallie Reynolds singled on a fly ball to right to score Cooper. Senior Ella Hudson singled on a fly ball to center to score Reynolds. Sophomore Myla Zarate blasted a two-run home run to left to score Hudson and herself. Pampa led 6-1. Hereford had another leadoff home run in the second to make it 6-2 Pampa after two complete.
Gowin singled before two straight outs. Reynolds singled on a line drive to center to score Bagwell, who reached on a fielder’s choice, and Pampa led 7-2. Hudson added another single in the frame. The Lady Whitefaces added two more runs to make the score 7-4 Lady Harvesters after three complete.
Gallegos singled on a hard grounder to center to begin the fourth. Sophomore Brooklyn Warren doubled on a line drive to left to score Gallegos and make it 8-4. Hill walked and Bagwell also walked in the inning. Hereford added one more run in their half of the fourth to make it 8-5 after four complete.
Cooper singled on a pop up to shortstop to begin the fifth. Hudson singled on a line drive to left. Zarate reached on an error by the right fielder to score Cooper and it was 9-5 Pampa. Hereford scored two more runs to make the game close at 9-7 before Reynolds struck out a better to end the threat and the score remained 9-7 after five full innings.
Hill doubled on a grounder to center to begin the sixth. Gowin singled on a line drive to left. Bagwell grounded into a fielder’s choice but Hill scored on the play to put Pampa ahead 10-7. The Lady Whitefaces went down quietly in the sixth and Pampa would take a three run lead into the final frame.
Gallegos hit a single on a grounder to left for the lone base runner by the Lady Harvesters in the seventh. After a one-out single in the seventh, Reynolds struck out the next batter for the second out. An error gave Hereford some life before Reynolds stuck a fork in them with another strikeout to end the game.
Final Score: Pampa 10, Hereford 7.
Stat Roundup.
Reynolds pitched a complete game with five strikeouts and got the win. She also went 2-2 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.
Hudson was 3-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Zarate had a home run, two RBIs, and a run scored. Gallegos was 2-4 with a run scored and a walk. Warren was 2-5 with an RBI and a double. Hill was 2-3 with two doubles, two runs scored, and a walk. Gowin was 3-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Bagwell was 1-3 with a double, a walk, three steals, two RBIs, and a run scored. Cooper was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Pampa hosts Perryton on Monday with varsity playing after JV, who begins at noon.
“We are hoping to get our third district win Monday against Perryton here in Pampa. The weather is going to be less than ideal, but our girls know that every game has to be our best effort. We have to be able to adjust to a new pitcher and be patient at the plate in order to be successful,” Browning said.
After Monday, the Lady Harvesters will have a short Spring Break before returning to head to Amarillo and play the Randall Lady Raiders on Saturday.
“We are able to get a couple days off to recuperate this week before coming back to the field to practice to get ready for Randall on Saturday. We know Randall is a great team, and will be a true test for our young squad, but we are 100% up for the challenge. I have tried to instill in these young ladies that if we play our game against every opponent we will continue to see success in our program,” Browning said.
