Two Boxes Drive in 7 as No.6 Lady Hawks Run-Rule Sonora

WALL, TX-- The sixth-ranked Lady Hawks scored early and often to secure a 23-1 victory over Sonora in five innings on Monday.

Kenzee Smith started for Wall in the pitching circle and was unable to get leadoff hitters Kristin Garrett and Karah Martinez out with Garrett coming home to score on a throwing error by catcher Payton Box. Following those two at-bats, Smith settled down to strike out the side.

"That's [Kenzee's] thing, you know," said Wall Head Coach Steve Bain. "Once she gets settled down and focused, she's extremely competitive."

In the bottom of the first, leadoff hitter Payton Box walked before being driven in on an inside-the-park home run to right field by Ashlynn Box to put Wall up 2-1.

"That's pretty exciting to see that," said Bain. "Anytime somebody can hit the ball that hard and has a chance to go around it's exciting. But it's also kind of nerve racking as the third base coach, because you've got to make that decision [to send the runner] pretty quick."

The Lady Hawks would send 14 batters to the plate and score nine runs off Sonora pitcher Jackilyn Sykes in the first inning to hold a 9-1 lead after one inning. Six runs and four hits came with two outs in the inning for Wall.

"That shows our maturity," Bain said. "I think our seniors understand that we've got to be patient [at the plate]. That's one of the things we talked about, when they see different types of pitches. Be patient, be disciplined and look for good pitches."

Wall would bat around for the second consecutive inning in the second, plating six runs to go up 15-1.

Sonora held the Lady Hawks scoreless in the third before allowing Wall to score eight runs on 14 batters in the bottom of the fourth.

Ashlynn Box went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs. Payton Box finished the day 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored. Three other Lady Hawks had a multi-hit game.

Smith got the win for the Lady Hawks by going the distance and allowing just one run on two hits with 11 strikeouts. Sykes was charged with the loss after just one inning of work where she allowed 10 runs on six hits. Gaby Zapata threw two innings of relief for Sykes before Aislin Nixon came on to finish the game for Sonora. 

Sonora finished the day with five errors while Wall committed just two.

The Lady Hawks improve to 14-4-1 and 2-0 in district play while the Lady Broncos fall to 8-8 and 0-2 in district. Wall will travel to Ballinger (13-7, 2-0) for a 5 p.m. game this Friday. Sonora will host TLCA (4-9, 0-2) at 5 p.m. this Friday.