Pocola rolls to LCT Slow-pitch three-peat

Pocola’s softball team earned its third straight LeFlore County SlowPitch Tournament championship, scoring 51 runs in four games on Thursday as most of the tourney took place that day.

“We struggled against Whitesboro for whatever reason, but, other than that, we hit the ball really well all day,” Pocola head coach Eddie Combs said.

Five different Pocola players hit home runs in the tourney.

Championship Pocola 14, Heavener 2

Pocola (24-5, ranked second in 4A) scored six runs in the first inning, with Kylee Merritt and Kyleigh Combs each smashing a two-run home run, and four in the second, before Heavener (147, ranked 16th in 4A) put its runs on the board in the third.

“I was kind of worried about how we were going to come out after sitting in the cold for so long,” Eddie Combs said. “They were ready to go and I couldn’t be more pleased with how they hit.”

Merritt ended it with a three-run double in the bottom of the third.

Winners bracket Pocola 18, Talihina 0

While the afternoon started with winds of more than 15 mph blowing in, Pocola scored 12 runs in the first inning and six in the second.

Maci Maxwell hit 2-for2 with an RBI. Kyleigh Combs hit 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Elliott Alexander hit 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Merritt had a hit and two RBIs. Ashley McClard and Malaree Morris had Talihina’s two hits.

Whitesboro 7, Spiro 6

After scoring two runs in the top of the second inning, Whitesboro (129, ranked eighth in Class B) ended the bottom half of the inning when Madison Grogan made a diving catch and threw to first base for the double play.

After Whitesboro posted a three-run fourth inning, Spiro (4-7) made it 5-2 with two in the fifth. Madison and Mallory Grogan hit run-scoring singles in the top of the sixth to make it 7-2. After making it 7-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Spiro threatened to tie it in the final inning.

Ashton Brown scored on an error to get Spiro within 7-5. Two batters later, Ava McLemore brought run in with a single. However, Spiro left the bases loaded after a line drive ended the game.

Pocola 7, Whitesboro 2

After Pocola’s Kaydence Batt hit a run-scoring single in the top of the first inning, Whitesboro’s Madison Grogan knocked a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning. Both teams turned double plays in the second inning

Allyssa Parker turned a ground ball into a double play in the fourth. The wind started dying down later in the game. Whitesboro held tight until the top of the seventh when Pocola put its first three batters on base. Then, Parker pounded the ball over the left-field wall for a grand slam, putting the Indians ahead 5-2. Combs and Dauslyn Brown hit back-to-back RBI singles with two outs.

For Pocola, Combs, Brown, Parker and Alli Lomon each hit 2-for4. For Whitesboro, Ryli Brewer hit 2-for-3.

Pocola 12, Howe 2

Brown hit a home run in the second inning. Kylee Merritt hit a two-run triple in a three-run top of the third as Pocola took a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Kadynce Delt hit a home run over the rightfield wall that thumped the side of a car parked near the wall in the bottom of the third. Elliott Alexander hit a three-run insidethe park home run to start a six-run fourth inning.

Merritt hit 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Jerrell hit 2-for-4 with an RBI. Parker walked three times. Alexander and Brown both hit 2-for-3. For Howe, Hattie Pate hit 2-for-2.

Losers bracket Talihina 16, Arkoma 5

Talihina (5-6) led 13-3 before Arkoma (1-6) scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Talihina added three runs to end it in the fifth.

Spiro 11, Talihina 3

After Talihina scored three runs in the top of the second inning for a 3-1 lead, Spiro tied it with a two-run single by Brooklyn Allen. In a five-run third, Desirae Reed hit a two-run single and Aspen Sapp hit a two-run double for an 8-3 lead. In the fifth,

Lindsey Wortham scored on an error before Brown scored Sapp with a single to end it. Kami Autrey hit 3-for-3. Allen and McLemore both hit 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Talihina’s Kylee Hibdon had a hit and two RBIs.

Panama 12, LeFlore 2

After LeFlore (11-5, ranked 13th in Class A) scored two in the top of the first inning, Panama (13-12, ranked 14th in 4A) posted six in the bottom half of the inning, three in the second and three in the fourth. Jayda Timms hit a two-run single in the fourth. Jadyn Yoakum hit a ground ball off the glove of Kylynn Knight that bounced off second base, allowing Kambrey Thompson to score the game-ending run.

Kamryn Armstrong hit 3-for-3. Hayven Hoffman hit 3-for-3 with an RBI. Gracyn Weaver hit 2-for2 with a walk and three RBIs. LeFlore had four hits, with Knight getting the lone RBI.

Panama 10, Whitesboro 9

Panama led 5-3 after the first inning as three runs scored after an error on Timms’ hit. Whitesboro tied it in the second inning as Hannah Adams hit a two-run single. By the fifth inning, Whitesboro led 9-7. Panama scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth, with Kylee Gollihare hitting the goahead RBI single with two outs on an 0-2 pitch. In the top of the seventh, Linley Collins hit a deep fly ball, and Leah Watts caught it in left field and threw it to first base for a game-ending double play.

Heavener 13, Spiro 9

Heavener’s Mariana Garcia hit a two-run home run for a 4-3 Heavener lead in the top of the third inning. Gracie Morrison hit a two-run double in a three-run fifth as Heavener expanded its lead to 7-3. Reed hit a home run to spark a five-run bottom of the sixth as Spiro took an 8-7 advantage. Heavener tied it on a dropped

fly ball and proceeded to grab a 13-8 lead in the top of the seventh. Reed hit her second home run in the bottom of the seventh, but Spiro managed no more.

For Heavener, Garcia hit 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Paisley Stacy hit 3-for-3 with an RBI. Brooklyn May hit 2-for-3 with an RBI. Kaitlyn Hurst hit 3-for-4 with two RBIs. For Spiro, Autrey hit 3-for-3 with an RBI. Reed hit 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Honeycutt hit 3-for-4 with an RBI. Corbie Buffington tripled and had three RBIs.

Heavener 16, Panama 12

Hoffman hit a three-run home run for Panama’s first lead in the bottom of the first. After Heavener scored six in the top of the third, Panama retook the lead at 7-6 with a threerun home run by Gracyn Weaver in the bottom of the third. Heavener took a 13-8 lead in the top of the fifth. Panama got within 13-12 with two runs each in the fifth and sixth. McGee

led off the top of the seventh with a home run and Heavener continued to build its cushion.

For Heavener, McGee hit 3-for-5 with a walk. Cartwright hit 3-for-4 with a walk. Garcia hit 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Britlee Reed had a hit and four RBIs. Stacy hit 3-for3 with two RBIs.

For Panama, Weaver hit 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Hoffman hit 2-for-2 with two walks and four RBIs. Watts hit 3-for-4.

Heavener 15, Howe 12

McGee led off the top of the seventh with a goahead home run.

Howe (9-14) had led 11-4 through two innings. Heavener tied it with four runs in the top of the sixth. For Heavener, Garcia, Cartwright and Shadwick each hit 4-for-5. Shadwick led the team with four RBIs. McGee hit 3-for-5.

For Howe, Wilson hit 4-for-5. Karley Duvall hit 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs. Delt walked four times.

PDN photo by Tom Firme LeFlore County Slow-Pitch All-Tournament Team members include: First Team: Pocola’s Allyssa Parker (MVP), Lety Parga and Kylee Merritt, Howe’s Karsyn Nye and Kadynce Delt, Heavener’s Cayleigh McGee and Ava Cartwright, Panama’s Hayven Hoffman, Whitesboro’s Madison Grogan and Linley Collins and Spiro’s Kami Autrey. Second team: Pocola’s Dauslyn Brown, Heavener’s Mariana Garcia, Howe’s Maggie Wilson, LeFlore’s Miriam Luce and Erica Baldwin, Panama’s Kylee Gollihare and Gracyn Weaver, Spiro’s Desirae Reed and Ava McLemore and Talihina’s Malaree Morris.

PDN photo by Tom Firme Pocola’s softball team celebrates its LeFlore County Slow-Pitch Softball Tournament championship.