Braylynn Henderson (West Colombia, Texas)

NTCC Softball Sweeps Kilgore College

Northeast Texas Community College hosted Kilgore College on Wednesday, April 12, in a conference doubleheader, with the Eagles taking game one 8-0 and game two 6-4 to earn the sweep.

Shea Nelson (Hughes Springs, Texas)

In Game 1, NTCC was led offensively by Shea Nelson (Hughes Springs, Texas), who went two for two with a walk, home run, four RBIs, and three runs scored. Braylynn Henderson (West Colombia, Texas) would go the distance in the circle in the shutout, giving up just two hits over five innings of work with seven strikeouts to win.

NTCC got things going in the bottom of the second with a three-run inning when Kailey Hancock (Pollock, Texas) earned first base when the pitch hit her to lead off the inning. Lily Galaviz (Denton, Texas) would move Hancock to second with a Sac-Bunt. Next, Shea Nelson would pick up her first hit and RBI when she singled to score Hancock. Nelson would steal second base, and then Haley McAlexander (New Boston, Texas) drew a two-out walk to put runners on first and second. Both runners would move up on a wild pitch to get into scoring position. Raelyn Kinard (Lake Jackson, Texas) took advantage of this and single to bring in two runs and bring the Eagle lead to 3-0 after two innings of play.

Another quick inning of work by Henderson brought NTCC back to the offensive attack in the bottom of the third when the Eagles scored another three runs to move the lead to 6-0. Hannah Boettcher (Valley Mills, Texas) would lead off with a hit by the pitch. Next, Giselle Fuentes (Lacissine, LA) reached base safely to put two runners on the bags for the Eagles. Boettcher would score on an error by the catcher while Fuentes moved up to the second base. Nelson would come to the plate a few batters later and hit a Homerun to left-center field, bringing in her third and fourth RBI of the day.

The Eagles would finish the shortened game in the bottom of the fifth when they plated two more runs to reach the eight-run limit. Hancock would go to first on a one-out walk, then move up to second on a wild pitch. Nelson walked with two outs to put two runners on for NTCC. Jalissa Alvarez (Mount Pleasant, Texas) singled to left-center field to walk it off with the two RBIs needed to end the game early.

In Game 2, Kilgore would keep things a little closer, but they didn’t deny NTCC the sweep in the 6-4 win. Anna Green would get the start in the circle and pick up the win going five and one-third innings before Henderson would come in for the final one and two-thirds innings to earn the save.

Both teams would go scoreless in the first inning of game two, with Kilgore leaving bases loaded. The Rangers got on the board first when they scored two runs in the top of the second. However, the lead would be short-lived as NTCC answered back in the bottom of the second with two runs to tie the game at 2-2. Hancock leads with a home run to center field to cut into the lead. Autumn Bias (Cleburne, Texas) followed up by reaching base on an error by the second baseman. Lily Galaviz came in to pinch run and later scored to tie the game when Alvarez doubled to right-center field.

NTCC would add to the lead in the fourth inning when Boettcher hit a two-out single to give the Eagles a baserunner. Skylar Liebrecht (Lakewood, California) would draw a walk to move Hannah to second. Hancock would double to bring home Boettcher and push the lead to 5-2 NTCC.

Kilgore tried to get back in the game with a run in the top of the fifth and top of the sixth, cutting the lead to 5-4. However, NTCC would put the game away in the bottom of the sixth when Kinard led off with a single. Liebrecht would double with two outs to bring home Kinard for the game’s final run.

Henderson continued her dominance in the circle ending the game on a strikeout with runners on first and third to end the comeback threat by Kilgore.

NTCC will be on the road at Paris Junior College on April 15 before returning home on Monday, April 17, for a makeup game with Trinity Valley Community College, game time against TVCC will be 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm.