Henley (13-2, 7-0) aced their first real test of Skyline Conference play Tuesday, holding OSAA No. 10 Hidden Valley (7-5, 4-1) scoreless until the sixth inning in an 8-3 road win that gave them sole possession of first place in the league.
Annie Campos set the tone for the Hornets in both halves of the first inning, hitting a solo home run to center field in the top half and pitching a 1-2-3 inning (with 2 strikeouts) in the bottom half. Henley made it 2-0 in the second on an RBI single by Gracie White, who drove in another run in the top of the fourth to give the Hornets a 3-0 lead.
The fifth inning was arguably the most pivotal, as Henley took advantage of two Hidden Valley miscues to double their lead. First, Samantha Moore reached base on a dropped third strike. Next, Campos hit what should have been a groundout to second base, but the throw to first was off target. That allowed Moore to score and Campos to reach second. Campos’ courtesy runner, Haydyn Higgins, was then driven in by Layliana Segura’s second home run in as many games (another shot to center field that nearly hit the scoreboard).
Suzy Nichols (bunt single) and Anna Harper (sac fly) drove in the last two Hornets runs in the top of the sixth inning. A 2-RBI single by Briella Jacob in the bottom of the sixth and a sac fly by Sam Lesher in the bottom of the seventh represented the Mustangs’ only runs. In the five preceding innings, Hidden Valley left seven runners on base, including five in scoring position.
On the other hand, Campos once again showed her ability to pitch her way out of jams–especially in the fourth inning. There, she issued a walk to load the bases with two outs but responded with a strikeout to retire the side. Her final line was 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K. Notably, this was Campos’ third seven-inning complete game of the season, and she also hit double-digit strikeouts in both of the other two.
At the plate for Henley, Segura finished 3-for-4 with 2 RBI; White went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI; Campos went 1-for-4 with 1 RBI; Nichols went 1-for-3 with 3 RBI; and Harper went 0-for-3 with 1 RBI.
For Hidden Valley, Jacob went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, Lesher went 1-for-3 with 1 RBI and Aubree Schmidt went 2-for-4. Jacob also went the distance in the circle for the Mustangs; her final line was 7.0 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
Tuesday’s win was Henley’s ninth in a row, although it did snap the Hornets’ streak of six straight run-rule wins.
Henley will return to Hidden Valley for the second game of the season series at 5 p.m. Thursday.
