The Henryetta Lady Knight varsity slowpitch softball team came out on the winning end of four-straight decisions earlier this week.
The 4-game win streak, which began Monday in Beggs, puts the Lady Knights at 7-6 on the year, heading into Thursday’s 3-way home showdown with Prague and Haskell.
After Thursday’s home contests, the Henryetta diamond squad will be on the road all of next week, beginning with Monday’s trip to Berryhill. The Lady Knights will also travel to Morris on Tuesday for a 3-way county showdown with the Preston Lady Pi- rates and the host Morris Lady Eagles.
Henryetta began this week’s winning streak Monday with a 24-3 win over county rivals Beggs and a 19-13 victory over the Kellyville Lady Ponies in Beggs then swept a 2-game home series with the Okemah Lady Panthers on Tuesday, coming away with wins of 10-0 and 5-4, respectively.
In Monday’s county battle with Beggs, the Lady Knights opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first, while Beggs countered with a run in its half of the frame for a 2-1 Henryetta advantage after one inning of action.
The Henryetta ladies plated three runs in the top of the second for a 5-1 margin, then, after both teams pushed across two runs in their half of the third for a 7-3 Henryetta lead, the Lady Knights erupted for 17 runs in the top of the fourth for the 24-3 decision.
The top hitter for the Lady Knights in the county contest was Shelby Kilhoffer, who finished 5 for 5 at the plate with 8 RBIs and accomplished the rare feat of hitting for the cyle. Kilhoffer began her 5-hit game with a 2-run home run in the first, then added a 2-run triple in the second, before recording a leadoff double, 3-run home run, and RBI single in the 17-run fourth.
Winter Beaver (3 for 3, 2 singles, home run, RBI) was next offensively for Henryetta with a 3-hit game, while McKayla Greenhaw (2 for 5, single, double, RBI), Serenity Rex (2 for 4, 2 singles, RBI), and Allie Davis (2 for 3, single, home run, 2 RBIs) also recorded multi-hit games for the Lady Knights against Beggs with two hits apiece.
Beaver’s home run came on a solo blast in the fourth, while Davis’ roundtripper came on a 2-run shot in the fourth.
The final two Henryetta base hits in the county contest came on an RBI single by Shannan Corkerin and a 2-run home run in the fourth by Ailanee Hicks.
In Monday’s win over Kellyville, the Lady Ponies began the scoring with three runs in the top of the first.
The Lady Knights plated nine runs in the bottom of the second for a 9-3 advantage, while Kellyville made it a 9-4 contest with a run in the top of the third.
After Henryetta increased its lead to 12-4 with a 3-run bottom of the third, Kellyville scored a run in the fourth, five in the fifth, and three in the sixth to take over the lead, 13-12, after five and one-half innings of action.
The Lady Knights erupted for seven runs in the last of the sixth, then kept the Lady Ponies off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh to come away with the 19-13 victory.
The Henryetta offensive attack against Kellyville was led by the trio of McKayla Greenhaw (3 for 5, 2 singles, triple, 3 RBIs), Serenity Rex (3 for 5, 2 singles, home run, RBI), and Allie Davis (3 for 3, 2 singles, double, 2 RBIs) with three hits apiece. Rex’s home run came on a solo blast in the 7-run sixth.
Other Lady Knight batters with multi-hit games against Kellyville were Shelby Kilhoffer (2 for 4, single, home run, 4 RBIs), Ailanee Hicks (2 for 5, 2 singles, 2 RBIs), Winter Beaver (2 for 5, single, double), Kassidy Lee (2 for 4, 2 singles, RBI), and Haley Lewis (2 for 4, single, double, 2 RBIs) with two hits each. Kilhoffer’s third home run of the day came on a 2-run shot in the sixth.
Kinley Miller and Shannan Corkerin each had a single to round out the Lady Knights’ 21-hit parade against Kellyville.
In Tuesday’s opening game against Okemah, the Lady Knights tallied two runs in each of the first three innings for a 6-0 advantage, then ended the game on the run rule with a 4-run bottom of the fourth for the 10-0, shutout, victory.
Haley Lewis was the only Henryetta player with a multi-hit game in the shutout win, finishing 2 for 2 with a single and double.
The other six hits for the Lady Knights in the first contest on Tuesday came on singles by McKayla Greenhaw and Winter Beaver, an RBI single by Allie Davis, an RBI double by Shannan Corkerin, a solo home run in the first by Ailanee Hicks, and a solo home run in the third by Shelby Kilhoffer – the senior slugger’s fourth in three games.
In Tuesday’s nightcap with Okemah, the visitors led 2-0 after one-half of an inning, while the Lady Knights took over the lead, 3-2, with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Okemah plated two runs in the top of the fifth to regain the lead at 4-3 and held the narrow advantage until the bottom of the seventh, when the Henryetta ladies rallied for two runs in their final at-bat for the thrilling 5-4, comeback, win.
In the Henryetta half of the seventh, Ailanee Hicks drew an intentional walk to begin the frame, then back-toback walks to Winter Beaver and Kassidy Lee loaded the bases with no outs. Allie Davis drove the first pitch she saw towards the wall in center field, sailing just over the head of the Lady Panther centerfielder, scoring Rachael Burden (pinch runner for Hicks) and Beaver to give the host Lady Knights the come-from-behind victory.
Beaver was the top hitter for Henryetta in the win, as the senior finished 3 for 3 with three singles. Shelby Kilhoffer also had a multi-hit game for the Lady Knights in the nightcap, finishing 2 for 4 with a single and double.
Besides Davis’ game-winning 2-run single, the other Henryetta hits in the narrow win came in the 3-run fourth – a single by Kinley Miller, solo home run by Ailanee Hicks, and 2-run home run by Kassidy Lee.
— Monday, March 25 Henryetta 24, Beggs 3
Henryetta: 2 – 3 – 2 – 17 24 – 16 – 3 Beggs: 1-0-2-0 3-6-5 WP: Kassidy Lee LP: Ruby Tenison HR: Henryetta: Shelby Kilhoffer (2), Ailanee Hicks, Winter Beaver, Allie Davis — Henryetta 19, Kellyville 13
Kellyville: 3-0-1-1-5-3-0 13 – 16 – 4 Henryetta:0-9-3-0-0-7-x 19 – 21 – 1 WP: Kassidy Lee LP: Butler HR: Kellyville: Reed; Henryetta: Shelby Kilhoffer, Serenity Rex — Tuesday, March 26
Henryetta 10, Okemah 0
Okemah:0-0-0-0 0-1-6 Henryetta:2-2-2-4 10-8-2 WP: Kassidy Lee LP: S. Coon HR: Henryetta: Shelby Kilhoffer, Ailanee Hicks — Henryetta 5, Okemah 4
Okemah: 2-0-0-0-2-0-0 4-5-2 Henryetta:0-0-0-3-0-0-2 5-9-2 No outs when winning run scored WP: Kassidy Lee LP: S. Coon HR: Okemah: Berryhill; Henryetta: Ailanee Hicks, Kassidy Lee