Early lead turns into narrow loss to Haskell
LARRY OWEN
SPORTS EDITOR
The Henryetta Lady Knights dropped their District 3A-7 opener against the Haskell Lady Haymakers at home Tuesday evening.
The Lady Knights, who opened the 2022 season Monday with a shutout win over Checotah, saw an early 6-1 lead against the visiting Lady Haymakers turn into a heartbreaking 8-7 defeat on Tuesday.
The Henryetta diamond squad will return to action this weekend at the Cushing Tournament then will battle county rival Okmulgee in back-to-back district contests to begin next week’s schedule.
The first county showdown with the Lady Bulldogs is scheduled to take place Monday in Henryetta with the second contest being held Tuesday in Okmulgee.
In Tuesday’s district opener against Haskell, the Lady Knights broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the third.
After Haskell tied the score at 1-1 with a run in the top of the fourth, the Henryetta squad regained the lead at 6-1 with a 5-run fourth.
The visitors took over the lead at 8-6 with seven runs in the top of the fifth.
The Lady Knights cut the Haskell lead in half, 8-7, with a run in the bottom of the fifth.
The Henryetta squad attempted to overcome the narrow deficit in the last of the seventh, but was only able to manage one baserunner - a 2-out walk by Winter Beaver - in the frame. The tying run was left stranded as the rally attempt was thwarted with a game-ending flyout to left to hand the Lady Knights the 8-7 setback.
Beaver finished 2 for 4 at the plate for Henryetta with a pair of singles. Besides the seventh-inning walk, Beaver also reached on a pair of defensive miscues.
Serenity Rex also had a multi-hit game for the Lady Knights on Tuesday, finishing 2 for 4 with a single, double, and RBI.
The other base hits for Henryetta in the district opener came on singles by Skylar Morris, Kassidy Lee, and Kinley Miller, an RBI single by McKayla Greenhaw, and a 3-run home run in the fourth by Ailanee Hicks. Hicks’ fourth-inning roundtripper was the HHS freshman’s first home run of her high school career.
Other Henryetta baserunners on Tuesday were Morris (fielder’s choice), Lee (error), Miller (error), Shelby Kilhoffer (walk, RBI fielder’s choice), and Brooklyn Baughman (walk).
--Haskell 8, Henryetta 7 Haskell -0-0-0-1-7-0-0 8-12-4 Henryetta-0-0-1-5-1-0-0 7- 9-1 WP: RayLin Morgan LP: Shelby Kilhoffer HR: Haskell: Riley Westmoreland, Lynzi Kelley; Henryetta: Ailanee Hicks
