Lady Dawgs back to winning ways in shortened contest

The Burnet High School softball team snapped a three-game losing skid April 5 with a bang — literally.

The Lady Dawgs (18-6, 3-3 District 19-4A) crushed Jarrell 15-5 in a contest where they had three home runs en route to finishing the game in six innings. The Lady Dawgs swept the series against the Lady Cougars.

“They were due,” head coach Hailey Wooten said of the offensive explosion.

After the Lady Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Burnet plated two in its half of the inning, another in the second, and three more in the third for a 6-1 advantage. Jarrell added a run in the fourth inning and a three-run homer in the fifth to trim the deficit to 6-5.

But the Lady Dawgs scored three of their own in the fifth and six in the sixth inning to activate the 10-run rule. Burnet took advantage of having runners on base by recording the timely hits that resulted in runs.

“More times than not, we pulled through,” Wooten said. “They all did well. Everybody got a hit, all nine of them.”

Wooten said Burnet didn’t do much differently to get the bats going.

“We stuck to the same process that we normally do,” she said. “We didn’t do anything differently.”

Home runs came from Kyleigh Mott, her first for the Lady Dawgs, and Maddi Moise, who each went 4 for 4 at the plate, and Lanee McCurry, who went 3 for 4.

From the circle, pitcher Mott had 8 strikeouts. Wooten credited the pitcher for keeping her confidence and composure during the three-game losing streak.

“We have seen a lot of home runs we’re not used to seeing,” the coach said. “I think it has frustrated her. She has been able to push through it. She’s a competitor.”

After the 11-4 loss to Salado March 25, Burnet fell to Lake Belton 4-2 April 1 and to Taylor 3-2 March 29.

Wooten noted the district members have a lot of talent. As a result, there is much parity. Taylor is led by senior pitcher Lindsay O’Dell, who will play for Loyola Marymount University, and Lake Belton reached the Class 4A Region III final in 2021, which means it was one series away from advancing to the state tournament.

“So every game is a battle,” Wooten said. “Those three-run and two-run games, that’s going to happen more with tougher pitchers. The top of (my) lineup has been doing well against those pitchers.”

Burnet travels to play at Georgetown Gateway at 6 p.m. Friday, April 8.

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