Call it the shot heard around Bowie County.
Freshman catcher Abby Russ smashed a grand slam in the sixth inning Saturday at Texas High's Lady Tiger Field to rally Hooks past Redwater, 6-5, in the Region II-3A softball quarterfinals.
Hooks (30-3-1) advances to the regional semifinals to play Pottsboro or Howe next week.
"I can't think of anything better to call that freshman's homer," Hooks coach Neal Kiser said. "You saw two good teams getting after each other. I was proud of the way we competed and made plays when we had to."
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Lady Dragons, who took a 3-2 lead into the sixth, and then rallied in their final two innings for two runs, stranding the potential tying run at third, and winner at first in the seventh.
"We put the ball in play the whole game with only three strikeouts," Redwater coach John Edwards said. "We had a lot of opportunities on the bases and weren't able to get more runs. I'm also extremely proud of how my girls played, not just today, but the whole season.
"They simply scored one more run than we did. We graduate some really good leaders off this team, but we've got a lot of good players returning. Our district will be just as good next year. I thought coming into today that whoever won had a chance of going to Austin."
Junior Marena Estell did not dominate the Lady Dragons like she had so many other teams this spring. She had a season-low three strikeouts in Friday's 6-2 win over Redwater, and had only three Saturday.
The Hornets scored first in the game on a mental error. Kenley Kyles singled to left on Bethanee Calicott's fourth offering of the game. Kyles stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball.
That's when Estell started racing to first, never stopping on her way to second. However, the count was only 2-2 and during the confusion Kyles scored, with Estell returning to the plate.
Redwater (25-12) quelled the Hornets' cheering with two runs of its own in the bottom of the first.
Savannah Corbell singled to center, and Ramzi Smith followed with a bunt hit. Both runners moved up on Karli Boatright's sacrifice bunt. Corbell scored on Keeley Wilbur's fielder's choice grounder, and Smith would eventually score on a passed ball.
The Dragons made it 3-1 in the second without a hit. Crayton Bradford walked with two outs, scoring on Corbell's double off the green wall in left-center.
Sidney Pardue's first home run of the season in the third made it 3-2.
The next two innings were relatively quiet, until Brandi Hout woke up the Hornets' offense in the sixth with a one-out bunt hit. One out later Estell lined a shot off Calicott's left for an infield hit, and Pardue walked on four pitches to load the bases.
The count was 0-1 when Russ powered the big green ball over the left field fence to make it a 6-3 Hooks' advantage.
Bailey O'Bannon double in the bottom of the sixth, and pinch-runner Lexi Robinson scored two batter's later on Sara Easley's grounder.
Singles by Smith, O'Bannon and Kelsey Harris made it 6-5, putting runners at the corners with two outs in the seventh. Estell enticed Jordan Walraven on an 0-2 pitch with a grounder to second that ended the game.
Kyles was the only Hooks player with more than one hit, while Corbell, O'Bannon and Harris had two hits each for the Dragons.
Calicott struck out five, but struggled with her control, walking eight and hitting a batter. Redwater had eight hits off Estell, who walked only two.
Friday's late game
Hooks 6, Redwater 2
Both Estell and Calicott had control problems in this game, the Dragons taking command with four runs in the fourth.
Estell walked only one batter, but hit three. Calicott issued seven free passes and hit a batter.
Redwater scored first when Smith walked, moving up on Boatright's infield hit. Smith scored on a throwing error to make it 1-0.
The Dragons' lead lasted until the third when Estell rocketed a shot over the 25-foot high scoreboard in right field for her second homer of the season to make it 2-1. The roundtripper went an estimated 300 feet.
Three walks and two Redwater errors resulted in the four-run uprising in the fourth. Russ had a two-run single in the inning, and Kyles added a run-scoring single to left.
Corbell singled to center in the fifth and continued to second when the outfielder bobbled the ball. She scored on the next pitch when Keeley Wilbur singled to left.
Hooks 101 004 0 6 7 2
Redwater 210 001 1 5 8 1
Marena Estell and Abby Russ; Bethanee Calicott and Sara Easley. WP-Estell; LP-Calicott. HR-HKS., Sidney Pardue, 3rd, none on; Russ, 6th, 3 on.
Late Friday
Redwater 100 010 0 2 6 2
Hooks 002 400 x 6 5 4
Calicott and Easley; Estell and Russ. WP-Estell; LP-Calicott. HR-HKS., Estell 3rd, 1 on.