Mia Gagliardi has provided that big home run before. She did again Friday night.
Against rival No. 5-ranked Atascocita, it was a 1-1 stalemate from the first inning through the six.
The senior catcher was locked in and hammered a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. For good measure, sophomore Hunter Quentel then sent a solo homer that traveled deep into the forest. The No. 10 Mustangs hung on from there for the 4-1 win.
“I felt the energy and the team behind me the whole at-bat,” Gagliardi said afterwards. “I knew coming into the inning that we were going to make something happen and we were going to find a way. I wanted to do it for my pitcher and for my team.”
With a front-row view catching Quentel, who shouldered through with a tie game against the Eagles (12-2, 3-1) all night, Gagliardi ultimately just wanted to help her pitcher out.
“She was important tonight,” Gagliardi said. “She was doing her job so I wanted make sure we were doing ours offensively.”
Kingwood (14-1-1, 4-0) has now won six straight games and are outscoring opponents 55-6 during the run. It was the Eagles second loss of the year and first in district play as the Mustangs took control of first place two weeks in. Atascocita had won four straight coming in, including a 19-0 win Tuesday against Humble. Its only other loss came March 1 against Tomball Memorial.
“We always know coming in against Atascocita that it’s going to be like that,” Kingwood head coach Christa Williams-Yates said. “It’s a rivalry game and of course you always hope that it’s not that close. But at the same time, it’s so much more entertaining when it is that way.”
Kingwood owns a 19-16 lead in the all-time series and swept Atascocita last year.
“I thought the team handled it exceptionally well,” Williams-Yates said. “It’s not like we didn’t hit the ball, we just hit it everybody and they made some great defensive plays. I was proud of our team for just never giving up and continuing to swing and make adjustments.”
Atascocita jumped on the board in the top of the first as dangerous Allie Burkhalter slugged a solo homer to left. It was her third homer this week after hitting two Tuesday against Humble.
Kingwood tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a double-steal attempt. Leilani Garcia just barely scored from third in time before Quentel was caught in a rundown between first and second base.
“I just noticed that they were doing something a little different,” Williams-Yates said. “So I immediately made the call. Thank god, it worked out, right? I mean it doesn’t always work out in your way, but I’m just glad everything worked.”
From there Quentel kept her team in contention. She twice stranded runners at third base and the Eagles left six on base. The sophomore sensation struck out 10 in her first start since a March 4 four-inning no-hitter of Goose Creek Memorial when she struck out seven and walked two.
From innings two through five, the Mustangs never had a runner get past second base as Atascocita starter Maya Hernandez just kept getting outs
The tied changed after that.
With one out in the sixth, Garcia drew a walk to set up Gagliardi, who had singled all the way back in the first.
“I knew it was 3-1 and I wanted to make something happen real bad,” Gagliardi said. “My plan was just to see it in and make it go somewhere. That was the result.”
The Kingwood softball team celebrates at home plate after Mia Gagliardi’s sixth innings two-run homer. (Noah Mabry/SportCast Media)
The ball sailed over the center field fence as the team erupted at home plate.
Gagliardi was three nights removed from hitting a bomb over the scoreboard at Channelview in an 18-0 win. She also tripled.
“It’s getting a lot hot and I’m feeling confident,” Gagliardi said.
Williams-Yates knew Gagliardi was the right girl in the right spot.
“They have all been hitting the ball well off me all week at practice,” Williams-Yates said. “I just knew she was going to do it. ‘G’ has just always had that ability, that knack to step up when you need her and it was just a matter of being able to execute that. She did it perfectly.”
Quentel then slugged the first pitch of the next at-bat and knifed it through the trees beyond the left field wall. It was her second straight game with a homer.
From there, Quentel picked up her ninth and 10th strikeout in the seventh for the complete game.
Kingwood is back in action Tuesday night at C.E. King. Atascocita, meanwhile, hosts North Shore.
Kingwood’s Hunter Quentel, left, and Mia Gagliardi, right, are seen during the game against Atascocita on March 14, 2025. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
