The Northwest and Carrollton Creekview softball teams finished district play on different notes. The Lady Texans lost their only 5-5A game and played just well enough to close out with a win, while the Mustangs finished strong to steal the fourth and final playoff spot in District 6-5A.
When those two teams met last Friday, however, Northwest proved it was ready to get out of district and let the real games begin. The group littered the field with nine hits and took advantage of four CCHS mistakes en route to a 9-1 Class 5A, bi-district playoff win in Denton.
The Lady Texans, who won their second straight district championship this season, had four hits fall for extra bases. They used the aggressive hitting and four Creekview errors to score in every inning of the game.
Northwest moved to 22-8 for the season and moved on to face Arlington Friday night in Birdville for the area championship. The Mustangs ended the season with a 13-14 mark.
Junior pitcher Erinn Jayjohn, who played first base last season while waiting her turn to replace Gatorade Player of the Year Brittany Barnhill, was solid once again. She picked up her 18th win of the season by holding Creekview to four hits and one unearned run.
The highlight of the day was the offense. Seniors Taylor Namey and Christin Robertson did all their talking with their bats as they blasted home runs in the ball game.
Those were two of several big hits that kept the bases warm all night. Northwest scored twice in each of the first two innings before posting solo scores in the next three innings to take a 7-1 lead. The locals added two insurance runs in the bottom of the frame to complete the scoring for the day.
Sophomore Natalie Nimmo, sophomore Bailee Mauldin and Jayjohn each hammered out doubles to leave the Mustangs scrambling in the outfield.
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