No. 1 seed Henley (27-2) scored their second-most runs in an inning this season to blow open their first round playoff game against No. 16 seed Sweet Home (11-16) and claim a 12-0 run-rule win Tuesday.
After Belle Birch drove in Samantha Moore with a two-out single to put Henley up 1-0 in the bottom of the first, the Hornets loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the second but were unable to push any runs across. Finding themselves in the same situation in the bottom of the third, Henley more than made up for the missed opportunity, scoring 11 runs. At one point, the Hornets scored on five straight plate appearances.
Five of Henley’s third-inning runs came with two outs, including a pair of two-run home runs by Annie Campos and Gracie White. Campos sent a 3-0 pitch into a tree about 10 feet past the left field fence for her seventh bomb of the season (tied for the team lead with Layliana Segura) and team-high 50th RBI. It also made Tuesday’s game her fourth straight with a home run. Three batters later, White drilled a moonshot to center field on the first pitch she saw for her third homer of the season and first since she hit two in one game against Klamath Union April 11.
Over the entire game, White went 1-for-3 with 3 RBI; Campos went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI; Jillian Vickery went 1-for-1 with 1 RBI and was walked twice; Segura and Birch both went 1-for-2 with 1 RBI; Moore went 1-for-3 with 1 RBI; Anna Harper went 0-for-4 with 1 RBI; and Natalie Hudson went 0-for-1 and was walked twice. Campos also pitched all 5 innings in the circle, allowing 1 hit while walking 2 and striking out 8.
In her final high school game, Adisen Graber had Sweet Home’s lone hit, going 1-for-2 at the plate.
Only three of the Hornets’ runs were earned, as the Huskies committed five errors. The Hornets’ 11 runs scored in the third inning was their most in a frame since they put up 17 in the fourth inning of a game against Phoenix April 6.
This was the third year in a row Henley and Sweet Home met in the first round of the 4A playoffs. The No. 1 seed Hornets beat the No. 16 seed Huskies 12-1 in 2023, and the No. 8 seed Hornets beat the No. 9 seed Huskies 15-0 in five innings in 2022.
The last non-COVID season without a state quarterfinal appearance for Henley was 2006. The Hornets enter this year’s quarterfinals on a 23-game winning streak (including a pair of forfeits). Henley will face No. 9 seed Crook County (16-11) Friday at a time TBD. It will be the teams’ second year in a row meeting in the quarterfinals; the Cowgirls were also the No. 9 seed in 2023 and lost that game 9-8.
