Highland Park’s softball team bounced back on Thursday with a much-needed win.
The Lady Scots rebounded from a defeat Wednesday against Frisco Lone Star by run-ruling Carrollton R.L. Turner at home, 13-1, in five innings.
The win keeps HP (15-8, 5-5 in District 12-5A) in the hunt for a playoff berth trailing first-place Frisco Wakeland (8-1), second-place Frisco Lone Star (7-2) and Frisco Reedy (7-2), and fourth-place The Colony (5-4) with games next week at the Lady Wolverines Tuesday and at home against the Lady Cougars Friday.
On Thursday, HP was powered by a pair of homers and five RBIs from Maryn Muntz, while Cecilia Knutson earned the win in the circle while contributing multiple hits and RBIs at the plate.
The Lady Scots led, 2-1, through three innings before breaking the game open in the fourth and fifth.
After opening the scoring with a Muntz homer in the first, Knutson took HP’s lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when she doubled to the left-field gap to score Taylor Gilliam, who had reached on a single to start the frame. Knutson then came around to score herself on a single by Shannon Hart.
The Lady Scots received a scare in the top of the fifth when Knutson took a liner off her lower leg, but the senior was back in the circle following a few warm-up pitches to retire the ensuing three batters, including two via strikeout.
“You could see her competitiveness out there tonight,” said Michael Pullen, HP head coach. “She gets hit in the shin and she’s mad about it and bounces right back up and is ready to go. She’s a warrior.”
For the game, Knutson tallied nine strikeouts and allowed just one run on five hits.
HP then achieved the run-rule by erupting for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth, receiving singles from six of its first seven batters followed by a run-scoring walk by Hart, two-run double by Emma Hyde and game-ending round-tripper from Muntz.
“It was a little slow to start but the girls kept battling,” Pullen said. “The bottom of the order really came up with some big hits tonight to get things started for us.”
Now HP can gear up for a critical week of district action in its effort to return to the playoffs
“We’ll take tomorrow off and enjoy the break and give the arms a rest after playing back-to-back games,” Pullen said. “Then we’ll give Wakeland all we got on Tuesday and the big one against The Colony. If we get a win we’ll be right there in a playoff spot. The girls know it’s there and can feel it. The energy and grit and focus is there.”
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