Lady Scots Varsity Softball team celebrates their win over Forney
With the Lady Scots softball team down by one run heading into their last at-bat of Tuesday night's full 7-inning game against Forney, one could sense that momentum was building for Highland Park. After all, HP had just put down the heart of the Lady Jackrabbit batters in order after having scored 4 Scottie runs themselves in the previous frame.
But Highland Park has never beaten Forney in softball and Forney is a top 10-4A district opponent who has advanced to the playoffs the last several seasons. Forney schooled HP 14-4 in their March 7 game at Forney, so nothing was taken for granted.
But on this night, under the new lights at the HP softball field, things would be different.
Sophomore Rennie Orr got things started in the bottom of the 7th by taking a 1-0 count to deep centerfield for a stand-up double. After Junior Panse Nakada sacrificed Orr to third, senior captain (and 3rd baseman) Ginna Klein laced an opposite-field shot off the right field fence, easily scoring the HP catcher. Klein then dug-in around second and dove head-first safely at third. With only one out, the game was tied 7-7.
That's when second baseman Sunny Bowden came to the plate. Bowden, a sophomore, had been hitting the ball well all night, having lined out hard in the 1st and singling in the 6th.
With the winning run (Klein) just 60 feet away and only one out, Bowden belted a hard ground ball up the middle. While it looked to be a clean single, the Forney second baseman somehow backhanded the ball, stopped her momentum and fired home. Though the softball appeared to beat Ginna Klein, the throw was just a bit up the third base line and Klein safely slid over the plate.
HP won 8-7 and the home crowd went nuts while the Lady Scots celebrated their come-from-behind victory. The win is the HP Varsity softball team's 3rd in a row and improves the Lady Scots to 13-9 overall and 5-4 in district. HP is in fifth place in district (trailing Carrollton Creekview and Forney who are both 6-3) with five games remaining.
Highland Park next travels to North Forney on Friday, April 4 and to Mesquite Poteet on April 8 returning home on April 11 against W. Mesquite.