Lady Panthers season comes to a close

ANAHUAC – The Anahuac Lady Panthers ran into a tough Huntington softball team in the opening round of play on Friday and dropped a pair of games to the Lady Devilettes 10-3 and 9-9, putting an end to their season.

It was another successful season for the Lady Panthers as they once again made a trip to the state playoffs.

In game one it was an 8-run second inning by Huntington that did in Anahuac.

Trailing 8-0 heading to the third inning, the Lady Panthers put up a pair of runs in the frame to cut the deficit to 8-2.

Gabby Palacios reached after being hit by a pitch and then Brecken Wilpitz singled to put a couple of runners on.

Both runners then advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and Hannah McKenzie scored Palacios on a groundout to make it 8-1. Keeley Butler followed with a single and the score was 8-2.

The Lady Devilettes scored a run in the fourth inning to increase their lead to 9-2.

Anahuac scratched a run together in the fifth with McKenzie lining out to third base, but on the play, Wilpitz scored on an error by the Huntington third baseman after making the catch and the score was 9-3.

The Lady Panthers could not get any closer as the Lady Devilettes closed out game one. Wilpitz was tagged with the loss after pitching the first two innings. Estefani Palacios pitched the final four innings and finished with three strikeouts.

After a short break, both teams started up game two.

Huntington once again jumped out to an early big lead with two runs in the first and five runs in the second inning to lead 7-0.

Anahuac answered with four runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Gabby Palacios had an RBI single to score Vallynn Cook to make it 7-1. Wilpitz then connected on a double to score two more runs and the deficit was down to 7-3. Moments later, it was Wilpitz stealing home and the Lady Panthers were within 7-4.

Huntington responded in the third frame with six more runs to build their lead back to 13-4.

Anahuac kept things interesting by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Taylor Trahan scored on a passed ball to make it 13-5, and then Butler scored two more with a single and the lead was down to 13-7. McDaniel scored two more runs with a single, and the score was 13-9.

The Lady Devilettes then put the game away by answering with six runs in the fifth inning to make it 19-9.

The Lady Panthers could not score in the bottom half of the inning, ending the game on the run-rule.

Estefani Palacios pitched the first four innings, and McDaniel and Wilpitz also got some work on the mound.

Anahuac finishes their season with a record of 16-8-2.