The Lambert Longhorns softball team started the season 3-4. 

All the team has done since then is win 23 games in a row, including two Class 7A playoff games against Mountain View on Wednesday. 

In Game 1, Lambert’s Hannah Cole threw a 10-strikeout shutout against the Golden Bears, winning 4-0. 

“Having [Cole] out there makes you feel better,” Lambert head coach Brooks Youngblood said. “A 4-0 lead headed into the seventh inning ... that feels pretty good with her on the mound.” 

Cole initially sparked the Longhorns in the second inning, sending a solo home run over the fence to give Lambert the 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Courtney Sauer sent her own solo shot over the fence. Madison Todd and Kirsten Cowart brought in insurance runs in the sixth. 

“I think we showed what we’ve been able to do all year,” Youngblood said. “We had the two home runs, but we were also able to execute a lot of small-ball stuff and put some pressure on them by scoring late in the game.” 

Youngblood said if he could change anything from Game 1 heading into Game 2, he would have Lambert “get a crooked number” on the scoreboard, meaning he wanted to score more runs. 

He got his wish in Game 2, with the Longhorns sending nine runs home in a 9-6 victory to win the best-of-three series. 

Mountain View scored six runs off Sauer, who started the game in the circle for the Longhorns, in the first three innings of the game. But Sauer drove in a game-high five runs at the plate to pace the Longhorns on offense. A six-run second inning for the Longhorns all but sealed Mountain View’s fate. 

Sauer homered in both games Wednesday, adding a solo shot in the opener.

In the fourth inning, Cole came back in to pitch for the Longhorns, striking out five while only allowing two hits. 

Lambert will travel to Parkview Oct. 20 for a chance to advance to the eight-team, double-elimination state tournament in Columbus from Oct. 28 through Oct. 30.