Lady Hornets move on

Hackett will head into the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament at Greenland next week as the second seed from the 3A-4 after Friday’s 5-3 loss to Booneville in the championship game. “It was a battle,” Hackett coach Jeff Oxford said. “Both teams hit the ball. We made some mistakes in the first inning and didn’t get some runs pushed across when we should have. That cost us in the end.” Hackett leadoff hitter Shayla Foster reached on an error to open the home half of the first inning, and Makenzie and Madeline Freeman each had singles but Booneville threw a runner out at the plate and Booneville catcher Joleigh Tate picked a runner off third as the Lady Bearcats escaped opening-inning damage. Senior catcher Sarah White belted a two-run homer, after Madeline Freeman had opened the fourth inning with a single, for a 2-0 lead. Hackett (20-6) will play on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against the third seed from the 3A-1. “In the overall grand scheme of things, it doesn’t keep us from any of our goals we set the beginning of the year,” Oxford said. “We want to have a run at the state tournament and we’re going to regionals next week regardless of what happened here. We’ve got to bounce back and head to regionals and play some good ball.” Hackett will be on the same side of the bracket, however, as 3A-1 champion and dominant freshman Brinkley Moreton. Touted freshman Makenzie Franklin and Moreton both play summer travel ball together on the Tulsa Elite 2024, which Oxford has helped coach since they were 10-years-old. “We know Moreton really well,” Oxford said. “She’s probably the best overall ninth-grader in the state, hitting and pitching and the whole nine yards. I’ve probably seen Morten play 400 or 500 games in her lifetime.”