The HP Lady Scot seniors prior to Tuesday's win. From L to R; Sunny Bowden, Grayson Rutherford, Lauren Jackson, Emily Singh, Chandler Bjork, Rennie Orr and Katie Bell.
The 2016 Highland Park Lady Scots clinched the District 10-6A title last Tuesday after defeating Richardson Berkner 3-1 at the HP Softball Field. This is the first district championship in softball for HP in school history.
The win was HP’s 13th over the past 14 games, and the second time the Lady Scots have beaten Berkner; the 10-6A runner-up this year. Of course HP had beaten the Lady Rams back on March 24th, 6-1. In both games, the top spot in District 10-6A had been at stake.
Similar to that March game, Berkner scored in the first inning, but HP would tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth after senior captain Rennie Orr hit a two-out single through the left side of the infield. She would then score on an Olivia Davis clutch base hit to left field.
The score remained tied until the Lady Scot half of the 6th when fellow senior captain Sunny Bowden led-off the inning by beating-out a bouncer to the left side of the infield. With one on and no one out, Orr came through again, lifting a 1-0 pitch off the right field fence scoring Bowden -- with the throw at the plate arriving too late, Orr took third and HP had a 2-1 lead with a runner on third and no one out.
The Lady Scots would add one more run that inning when senior Katie Bell lined a 1-1 fastball back up the middle scoring Orr. Through 6, HP was up 3-1. That would be all the Lady Scot defense and pitcher Katie Bell would need.
In the full seven inning game, HP scored 3 runs on 5 hits while Berkner was held to 4 hits and one run. Bell , who brought her best stuff, struck-out 7 and gave-up no earned runs. She threw 114 pitches in facing 25 total batters. Bell's strike-out total for the season is 153, ranking her among the top 10 in the Dallas area in strikeouts.
The 10-6A District Champs’ next game is tonight, April 22nd, against Richardson High School. Due to field conditions at Richardson’s home field, the game has been moved to the HP Softball Field. The JV will play at 5p, the Varsity at 7p.
Then, for the second consecutive year, the Lady Scots will begin their UIL playoff run. This season, HP will likely face WT White High School in the bi-district round.