District 1-3A
There was a lot that needed to play as for seeding during the final day of the regular season for District 1-3A on Thursday.
Fortunately, the matchups lined up. River Road battled Bushland for not only the district title but the No. 1-seed in Division I while Childress and Canadian squared off for the top two seeds in Division II.
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Bushland was able to avoid a season sweep avenging a loss from a couple of weeks ago by outslugging the Lady Wildcats for a wild 13-11 victory at home. The Lady Falcons (16-13) and River Road (22-7) split the district title each finishing at 9-1. The two teams flipped following the game for seeding position with Bushland getting the No. 1-seed in Division I and the Lady Wildcats going with the No. 2 spot.
The Lady Falcons got off to a fast start attacking pitcher Ava Sharp chasing Sharp for eight runs in the first three innings building an 8-4 lead. The Lady Falcons tacked on to that advantage with a five-run bottom of the fifth to take a commanding 13-5 lead. River Road didn’t go away answering with six runs in the top of the sixth but never came any closer falling 13-11.
Addison Appier and Kylee Jordan both homered for the Lady Falcons in the victory. Charley Spinks was 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs. Farryn McKown took her lumps in the circle giving up 10 hits and five earned runs but she did have nine strikeouts.
Despite the loss, Sharp went over 400 strikeouts in her outstanding River Road career. Emma Killman had two homers to lead the Lady Wildcats with six total RBIs.
In another meaningful district clash, Childress blasted Canadian 13-1 on Thursday. The win gives the Lady Bobcats (14-11-1) third place in District 1-3A but more importantly the No. 1-seed in Division II. Canadian (17-9) finishes in fourth place and the No. 2-seed in Division II.
Childress’ offense was on fire with 17 hits led by Ansley Parr who went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Parr also stacked up 13 strikeouts over five innings. Parr ended the regular season leading the state of Texas with 281 K’s. Teammate Journey Prince added a three-run homer and a double.
District 3-5A
Amarillo High ended the regular season handing Lubbock-Cooper its first loss in district with the Lady Sandies coming away with a 6-4 road win.
AHS (23-8-2) finishes the regular season in second place at 14-2 in District 3-5A, but will be the No. 1-seed in the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
Caprock had a bye on Thursday’s final day but the Lady Longhorns season isn’t over yet. With a Lubbock Monterey 20-2 win against Palo Duro and Plainview downing Lubbock High 16-11, the Lady Longhorns, Lady Plainsman and Lady Westerners all tied for third and fourth place at 9-7.
The three teams now have to have a play-in scenario starting Monday. Caprock got a bye so Lubbock High will play Lubbock Monterey at 4 p.m. Monday. The winner of that game plays Caprock at 6 p.m. Monday night. If Caprock wins they will advance into the postseason. All games will take place in Plainview.
District 4-4A
There was some big postseason shakeup in District 4-4A during the final games of the regular season on Thursday and Friday.
The Pampa Lady Harvesters sure made some noise downing Dumas with a surprising 14-4 home win against district champion Dumas.
The win puts Pampa (17-7) in the playoffs finishing district at 9-5. The Lady Harvesters will be the No. 2-seed in Division II. Dumas (26-4) finish the league at 13-1 and will be the No. 1-seed in Division I.
Maecie Hawthorne was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and threw five innings in the circle allowing four runs with three strikeouts. Cassidy Stanhope had a big outing with a grand slam.
With Pampa winning, that forced Canyon and West Plains into a play-in situation Friday afternoon. The Lady Eagles were the ones standing tall in the end beating the Lady Wolves 9-4 to clinch a spot in the postseason.
Canyon (21-8-2) finished in third place at 9-5 in the league and will be the No. 2-seed in Division I. Maddie Hight was 2-for-5 with a triple and scored two runs. Kylee Evers had three hits with an RBI.
Randall sealed up second place in District 4-4A with a 26-5 victory against Hereford on Thursday. The Lady Raiders (24-9) ended district with a 10-4 mark and will be the No. 1-seed in the Division II playoffs. Tatum Gibson was 3-for-6 with two RBIs. Landri Holcomb doubled and totaled three hits with three RBIs.
District 1-2A
West Texas High was able to outlast Gruver 16-11 on Thursday during a District 1-2A game. The Lady Comanches improve to 9-3 in district while Gruver falls to 9-3. Sunray also defeated Highland Park 23-13 on Friday.