No. 9 seed Crook County (16-12) had been a tricky matchup for No. 1 seed Henley (28-2) over the past two seasons, but the Hornets had little trouble handling the Cowgirls in Friday’s OSAA 4A quarterfinal matchup, scoring the first seven runs in a 7-3 win.
In her 24th start of the year, Annie Campos shut down Crook County in the circle, allowing 2 hits and striking out a season-high 15. The Cowgirls didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning.
Campos drove in Anna Harper with a one-out single to get Henley on the board in the bottom of the first. After Belle Birch reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Campos thrown out at second, Layliana Segura launched a no-doubter to right-center field for her team-leading eighth home run of the season, putting the Hornets up 3-0.
Segura added another RBI in the bottom of the third inning, singling to drive in courtesy runner Haydyn Higgins after Birch drove in Campos and Samantha Moore with a double.
Henley’s last run came across the same way their first run did, with Campos driving in Harper on another one-out single to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead after four innings.
Crook County broke the shutout in the top of the sixth when Tylee Cossitt hit a three-run bomb to left field (nearly taking out the broadcast camera) after a walk and hit-by-pitch put two runners on. Campos responded by retiring the next six batters to send Henley to the state semifinals.
It’s the Hornets’ sixth semifinal appearance in the past seven seasons and 12th in the past 16.
Campos’ final line in the circle was 7 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 15 K. At the plate, Segura went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI; Campos went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI; Birch went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI; and Harper went 2-for-4.
For Crook County, Cossitt went 1-for-3 with 3 RBI and Danner Hemphill went 1-for-4. Jaycee Villastrigo pitched the final 2 innings and allowed 1 hit while issuing 1 walk and 1 strikeout. It was the final high school game for all three players.
This was the seventh meeting between Henley and Crook County in the past two seasons, with the Hornets winning all of them. Four of the games were decided by one or two runs, including the teams’ previous meeting on April 20 and last year’s state quarterfinal (which was also a 1-vs-9 matchup).
Henley is now on a 24-game winning streak (including a pair of forfeits) and will host No. 4 seed Astoria (21-6) in the semifinals. It will be the Fishermen’s first-ever state semifinal appearance and first time facing Henley since at least 2013, but there will be a degree of familiarity for some players; Astoria’s Shelby Bruney, Kya Lindell and Aryana Adams squared off with Campos and Harper in the 4A girls basketball championship game March 9. The “rematch” will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
