Pampa softball face Sanger in regional finals Wednesday

PAMPA, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — The Pampa softball team is set to face Sanger in the Region 1-4A Championship on Wednesday.

The Regional Finals will be held at Midwestern State University. Game one on Wednesday is scheduled for 7 p.m., game two on Thursday is set for 1 p.m. If game three is necessary, it will take place Friday at 7 p.m.

The Lady Harvesters defeated Burkburnett and punched their ticket to the regional final for the first time in 10 years. Head softball Coach Dottie Hawthorne shared it’s been an exciting season, with their goal of going to state becoming more in reach.

“This is a great group of girls,” said Hawthorne. “They’ve been most of them have been starters since they were freshmen. I just feel like the hard work is really paying off for them.”

Making it to the state championship has been their goal all along, and they were remined of that goal everyday.

“Our trainer, he knew that we could do it and so he printed a picture for the girls in the dugout over there of Austin field and we’ve had that kind of as our goal every day coming out of practice,” shared Hawthorne.

Going into the playoffs the Lady Harvesters were third in their district but are now the only softball team in the Texas Panhandle remaining with a record of 22-12 overall.

“Obviously, three seed isn’t the best, but we had a tough district,” said junior second baseman Carsyn Hunt. “We wanted to prove that we can go far even though we’re lower in our seedings.”

Outside of a tough district the team also faced a season of adversity dealing with injuries along the way. With a healthy team peaking at the right time Pampa softball is more motivated that ever.

“We started off with a lot of adversity you know and through that I think we just wanted to show people that we could overcome adversity,” said senior pitcher Kynleigh Kirby. “I think God’ been a big part of our overall success he’s always had our back through everything, keeping everyone safe and healthy you know, helping them get through injuries. Our coaches obviously have helped a lot with our success.”

In route to the regional championship game Pampa has defeated Monahans, San Elizario, West Plains and Burkburnett. This late in the season the Lady Harvesters understand the importance of being well rounded and on the same page out on the diamond.

“We’re a solid team all around,” said junior center fielder Briley Daniels. “We have good hitters and good defense. I think all of us really came together this year. We’ve all kind of been one as a team. We all have good relationships with each other and there’s not like separate groups. We’re just one big team. I think it really helps us throughout the games.”

With a trip to Austin in reach and more confidence after defeating tough opponents, the team is focused on showing up every day as nothing is guaranteed.

“You always got to come ready to play every single day in district, there’s not a day you can come not ready to play,” said Kirby. “So going into the playoffs, it just prepares us that any team at any given day can win, and you just have to be ready to play every day.”

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