Staff report

Seven innings wasn’t enough for the Hays Lady Rebels and the Klein Oak Lady Panthers to settle their area round playoff game in Sealy Friday. 

But an eighth inning four-run burst, highlighted by a two-run homerun by Lady Rebel Nadia Netek, broke a scoreless stalemate and pushed Hays past Klein Oak 4-0.

With the win, Hays advances to play Humble Atascocita in a three-game series starting 7 p.m. at A&M Consolidated High School. Game two is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m., with a third game, if necessary, to be played 30 minutes later.

Both Hays and Klein Oak’s pitching staffs limited their opponent’s offense. Hays’ Maxine Valdez led the way as she pitched a three-hit, complete game shutout. Valdez was effective as she went eight innings and tossed two strikeouts while allowing two walks during her outing.

On the opposite side, Taylor Makowski guided Klein Oak by going the full eight innings and recording nine strikeouts. Makowski faced 36 batters and gave up four runs and two walks.

Hays’ offense found its rhythm after the fourth inning. The Lady Rebels notched eight of their nine total hits in the game after the fourth frame.

But Hays couldn’t take advantage of its opportunities until the eight inning.

Lady Rebel senior Karina Rocha led off with a single, and was moved to second base via a sacrifice by Illyana Cisneros.  

Hays’ Arianna Gomez delivered an RBI to deep center field to score Rocha and give Hays a 1-0 lead.

After the Lady Rebels tacked on another run, Netek blasted a two-run homerun to put Hays ahead 4-0.