Hondo Anvil Herald

Owls sweep through Cowgirl Classic

 

     Hondo softball swept through four straight games Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 26 & 28, to claim first place in the Cowgirl Classic at D’Hanis.

     In their next contest, a non-district home game against Somerset on Tuesday night, the Owls lost 9-4.

     The Owls (10-7) will be busy during the upcoming Spring Break week. Hondo will go to Comfort on Friday, March 6, for a 7 p.m. game, then will host Natalia on Monday, March 9, at noon, as District 28-3A play begins. The Owls will go back into non-district action the following day, when they host Poteet on Tuesday, March 10, also at noon. Three of Hondo’s four wins in the D’Hanis tourney came via run-rule.

     The Owls opened play Thursday morning with a 15-1 win over District 28-3A foe Dilley. Kristyn Ybarra went 4-for-4 at the plate, with a two-run homer, leading to an eight-run first inning, and three RBI. Xevi Hernandez had two hits and drove in two runs. Elena Rivera also had two hits, while Addison Soza drove in two.

     Becky Rubio pitched two innings of no-hit ball, with an inning of one-hit relief from Madi Connell.

Later on Thursday, Hondo piled up 18 runs on 16 hits in an 18-0 win over Sabinal. The Owls opened with five runs in the first and followed that with 11 in the second. Rubio and Connell combined on a three-hitter.

     Miah Samaniego was 3-for-3 at the plate, driving in three runs. Five other players had two hits in the game: Ybarra, Hernandez, Soza, Ainsley Bohlen and Miya Lathe, who drove in four runs. Bohlen had three RBI.

     Returning to play on Saturday, the Owls jumped to a nine-run lead and held off a D’Hanis rally to win 9-5. Hondo took a 2-0 lead in the first, then added seven in the third, with most of the damage coming on a bases-loaded triple from Ybarra. The Cowgirls rallied with five runs in their final at-bat, before the game ended on time limit.

     In the Owls’ final game of the tourney, Hondo scored 14 runs in the bottom of the first inning on the way to a 16-2 win. Hondo only had five hits in the game, but 12 walks and a hit batter gave the Owls plenty of baserunners. Soza had three RBI, with two each from Rivera, Hernandez, Samaniego and Briley Krisch.

     Rubio was named the tourney’s most valuable player, while Bohlen, Hernandez and Ybarra were named to the all-tournament team.

Tuesday, March 3, on the home field, the Hondo softball team was held in check for most of the night, as Somerset rolled to a 9-4 win over the Owls.

     Hondo didn’t get on the board until the bottom of the seventh, and by that time, the Lady Bulldogs were already up 9-0. The Owls got their runs on a bases-loaded walk, a groundout and a two-run single by Bohlen.