Hondo Anvil Herald

Owls close out district with two more wins

 

     Hondo softball won twice on the road this week to wrap up the regular season, clinching the second place spot overall in District 28-3A, along with the #1 seed in the 3A-Division 1 bracket.

     Hondo’s 11-5 Friday, April 10, win at Crystal City and a back-and-forth 13-12, eight-inning win over Lytle on Tuesday, April 14, gave the Owls a 7-3 league record, with an 18-10 mark for the season.

     The Owls’ bi-district opponent will come from 27-3A, and will either be Poteet or Marion. That district still has one playing date left this Friday, April 17, and the two possible opponents play each other to wrap up the season. Marion won the first meeting, 14-2, so if history holds true, Hondo would face Poteet at bi-district for the second straight season. 

     The playoffs open this coming weekend, April 23-25.

     At Crystal City, a lot of the action happened in the final inning. Through six, Hondo led 5-1. The Owls then put up six in the top of the seventh, before the Lady Javelinas answered with four to finish out the game.

     Four Owls had two hits each as part of the team’s 10-hit attack – Xevi Hernandez, Miya Lathe, Briley Krisch and Madi Gobar. Leadoff batter Kristyn Ybarra, despite not having a base hit, still made her presence felt, stealing five bases.

     Becky Rubio worked the first six innings in the circle, allowing five hits and a single unearned run.

Tuesday at Lytle, both teams put up multiple crooked numbers on the board, until things were tied 12-12 at the end of five innings. Following two scoreless innings, the Owls pushed one run across in the top of the eighth. Makylie Peña’s fly ball to center was deep enough to score Krisch from third on a sacrifice fly.

     In the fourth, Krisch homered to left center, scoring Elena Rivera and giving the Owls a 10-7 lead. A two-out rally in the fifth, on hits by Ainsley Bohlen, Lathe and Rivera, put Hondo ahead 12-7, before Lytle answered with five in the bottom of the inning to tie it.

     The Owls had taken the first big lead of 5-1 with five runs in the top of the second, but the Pirates responded with six in the bottom half to go back up 7-5.