ABILENE – The Early Lady Horns tallied the first five runs in their Region I-3A softball bi-district playoff series opener, then held off a Henrietta comeback attempt for a 6-4 Game 1 victory Friday night at Abilene Christian University.

Games 2 and 3, if needed, between the District 8-3A runner-up Lady Horns (23-6) and District 7-3A third seed Henrietta (19-8) begin at 11 a.m. Saturday back at ACU.

Early pitcher Teagan Lopez yielded two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks to collect the win.

The Lady Horn offense generated five hits, drew four walks and capitalized on a pair of Henrietta errors.

Standouts offensively for Early were Taylor Summers and Marissa Reedy with one hit and two RBIs each, Jordan McIntire with a hit and an RBI, and Trinity Torrez and Lopez also contributed base hits.

Early grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Summers led off with a walk, Stoney Laughlin drew a one-out free pass, and Reedy delivered a two-out, two-RBI triple.

The Lady Horns pushed the lead to 5-0 in the fourth as Lopez singled and Grace LaRue walked ahead of a one-out RBI double by McIntire. After a bunt single by Torrez, Summers followed with a two-RBI single up the middle.

Henrietta crept within 5-2 in the top of the fifth inning, but Early added its final run in the bottom half of the frame as Jordan Simmons drew a lead-off walk and later scored on an error.

In the top of the sixth, Henrietta pushed two more runs across the plate but the rally ended there.