An early season road trip to Colorado proved very successful for the Kingston Lady Redskins softball team last week as they took advantage of a bit cooler conditions with three wins in four outings against some out-of-state powerhouses.
Coach Aaron Minor’s squad notched victories in their first three outings, downing Discovery Canyon (7-1), Arapahoe (8-6) and Chaparral (12-4) before suffering a 20-4 loss to Northside in the event finale.
Now 11-4 on the season, the Lady Redskins will participate in the Plainview Tournament beginning on Thursday with an opening meeting against Marlow.
Kingston showed little sign of road weariness in the Colorado opener as the Lady Redskinsboltedtosevenruns in the first three innings and never looked back against Discovery Canyon.
Alyssa Langford set the tone with a solo home run to left field in the very first stanza to key a four-run outburst. They added another run in the second frame on a Kate Ratzlaff RBI single before capitalizing on a Kenley Hallum bunt single for two tallies in the third.
Hallumwasalsodominant in the pitching circle, yielding one run and four hits over five innings, for the victory. Ratzlaff and Kenadea Elkins each had two hits to pace the Kingston offense.
A six-run third inning explosive proved decisive againstArapahoewithKhloe Hall providing the big blow on a grand slam home run as Langford chipped in a double.
Kingston ended that contest with nine hits topped by two apiece from Ratzlaff and Audrey Hughes.
The Lady Redskins continued the early run with a 16-hit barrage against Chaparral as they added another six-run outburst in the second inning to take the lead for good.
Elkinssmackedthreehits, including a double, and drove in a team-high five runs. Ratzlaff also notched three hits with two RBI and three runs scored. Langford, Ava Bain, Ayli Minor and Hughes each tossed in two hits with Bain and Hughes adding doubles. Hallum worked all seven innings in the pitching circle, scattering 11 hits and allowed just two earned runs.
Minor’s unit ran into a buzz saw in the finale, yielding five runs in the first inning and eight in the third to Northside before getting on the board.
A four-run third stanza for the Lady Redskins was highlighted by Langford’s two-run homer along with doublesfromElkinsandHall.