KYLE — The Hutto Lady Hippos varsity softball team advanced to the area round of the playoffs after defeating Del Valle 8-1 in a winner-take-all Game 3 on Saturday, April 26, at Lehman High School.
Hutto opened the series with a 2-0 win in Game 1 before falling 8-0 in Game 2.
Freshman Bailey Kelley was again solid in the circle, tossing a complete game and allowing just one run with one strikeout. Both teams were scoreless through the first inning before Hutto broke through in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Makenna Castillo to take a 1-0 lead.
The game remained tight until the fifth inning when junior Kenna Spence delivered another sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0. The Lady Hippos’ bats came alive in the sixth, scoring six runs. Kelley roped a two-RBI double to make it 4-0, and Spence, junior Sophie McElyea and senior McKenzie Klos each added RBI singles to push the lead to 8-0.
Del Valle scored its lone run on an RBI single in the top of the seventh, but a groundout ended the game.
Spence led the team at the plate, going 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
Hutto now shifts its focus to the area round, where it will face the Taft Raiders in a bestof- three series. Game 1 is set for Thursday, May 1, at 6 p.m., followed by Game 2 on Friday, May 2, at 6 p.m.
If necessary, Game 3 will be played Saturday, May 3, at 1 p.m. All games will be in Seguin.
The Raiders finished the regular season 11-5 in District 28-6A and advanced after a 6-3 win over Johnson in the bidistrict round. Taft is led by senior utility player Alyssa Rangel, who enters the series with a .529 batting average and a 1.91 ERA.
