Dale, Washington advance to state softball semifinals
The Oklahoma Class 3A-B fastpitch softball state quarterfinals began on Thursday at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex. Here’s a recap of the action:
Dale 3, Minco 2
Chayse Caram just wanted to put her previous at-bats behind her.
The senior from Dale was 0-for-3 in the state quarterfinal game but was given one more chance to make a play.
“Don’t stress out,” Caram thought. “You can do it.”
And in the biggest moment of the game, with a runner on third base, she did.
In a tie game, Caram reared back and smacked an inside pitch to the outfield, bringing Karsen Griggs home from third. Caram stepped on first and threw an emphatic fist as she’d just given Dale the lead in the seventh inning.
The Pirates never gave it back. Dale took down Minco 3-2 on Field 2 to advance to the Class 2A state quarterfinals.
“I told them before the tournament started, ‘Every game’s going to be like that,’” Dale coach Andy Powell said. “‘I already know that because we got a good pitcher, we got a defense, every game is going to be 3-2, 2-1, 1-0. And you’ve got to execute and get a big hit, and if you do, you’ll win if you don’t you lose. It’s just the way it is.’”
Minco put a runner across in the first inning on a Dale error to take the lead. Dale answered, putting two runs across in the third. Griggs hit an RBI double to score Reese Hering. Gracee Waller then bunted Griggs in to score.
Minco’s Dallas Brothers tied the game with an RBI single in the third. The game stayed tied until Caram’s gamewinning RBI single.
“This is my fourth time going to the state tournament and it never gets any easier,” Caram said. “But you just have to think, ‘Next pitch.’ You just have to get over it.”
Dale will take on Pocola at 4 p.m. on Friday. Allyssa Parker led Pocola to an 8-2 win, smashing her 20th home run of the season.
Washington 6, Morris 0
Maggie Place couldn’t have looked better.
The Washington senior pitcher has pitched in the state tournament many times before. So, when she got her call on Thursday, she dominated from the circle.
Place struck out 11 batters to help lead the Warriors to a 6-0 win over Morris on INTEGRIS Field to advance to the Class 2A state quarterfinals. Place threw all seven innings, allowing just two hits.
“She got us a few ground balls.” Washington coach Tylor Lampkin said, “and when she’s on doing that, we’re pretty tough to beat at times.”
The Warriors put two runs across in the first inning on a Tinley Lucas sacrifice fly and a Morris error. Washington put four more runs across in the fifth inning.
Once the Warriors had the lead, Place went to work in the circle.
“We scored a few more runs than what we have been here lately,” Lampkin said. “Made a few changes to the lineup just to try to do some stuff and was able to come through, get a few runs added early and then we just let Maggie do her thing.”
Washington will battle Lindsay at 11 a.m. on Friday. Lindsay took down Haskell 5-3.
Extra bases
h Stuart took down Kiowa 2-0 to advance to the Class B state semifinals. The Hornets will take on Moss, which took down Lookeba-Sickles 1-0.
h Ripley run-ruled Arapaho-Butler 10-0 in five innings to advance to the Class A state semifinals. The Warriors will take on Cyril, which beat Red Oak 8-1.