HUTTO — The Hutto High School varsity softball team clinched a playoff spot Thursday, April 11 out of 6A-District 12 as the Lady Hippos won a 12-10 slugfest over Temple High School.
Tied 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Lady Hippos sophomore Kenna Spence came up to the plate with two outs and hit a two-run home run to left field that scored fellow sophomore Sophie McElyea to give Hutto the victory.
Facing a 6-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Hutto bats got to work with three home runs as freshman Makenna Castillo hit a solo shot, senior Hailey Leluga hit a two-run blast and junior Makayla Martinez hit another solo home run to get the Lady Hippos to within 6-5.
After the visiting Lady Wildcats extended their lead to 9-5, the Lady Hippos stormed right back. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth frame, Martinez hit a game-tying grand slam and junior Jayda Gallegos had an RBI single to give Hutto its first lead of the night at 10-9.
Although Temple tied the game in the seventh frame, Spence ended up being the hero for the Lady Hippos with her two-run home run.
Hutto (18-11 overall, 6-3 district record), under Head Coach Matthew Mullins, traveled Friday night to take on Copperas Cove High School and will be back at home Tuesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. to host Bryan High School.
