Carl Albert stuns Pryor for second straight title
SHAWNEE — Carl Albert junior pitcher Hannah Williams felt like last season was incomplete, even with a ring to show for it.
She had pitched the first half of the season, giving way to star Chenice Delce when she gained eligibility.
Williams watched the Titans and Delce roll to the state championship.
That’s what drove Williams this fall each game in the circle.
And Wednesday night, she completed the season in the best way possible. Williams helped lead Carl Albert to a 7-5 win over Pryor for a second straight Class 5A state title at The Ball Fields at Firelake.
“I achieved what I couldn’t before,” Williams said. “I feel like that our team is so strong that as we work as a team we do remarkable things like this.”
Carl Albert now has seven titles, five since 2010.
This one was particularly special with seven starters graduating from last season. The Titans also faced adversity earlier Wednesday, trailing the entire game against Durant until Tulsa commitment Zadie LaValley hit a walk-off home run.
Then Carl Albert had to face Pryor star Olivia Rains, an Oklahoma commitment. Carl Albert had 11 hits and scored five unearned runs.
Pryor led 3-2 early, but the Titans rallied. LaValley delivered the big blow with a run-scoring double in a four-run fifth.
Williams allowed four earned runs and nine hits over seven innings, striking out four.
“What a workhorse today,” Carl Albert coach Colin White said. “Guts. That’s all I’ve got to say is she’s got some guts.”
Tuttle completes three-peat
Tuttle pitcher Macy McAdoo looked for a sign from catcher Kinsey Koeltzow and instead got a big smile.
The bases were loaded in the second inning. McAdoo and Newcastle ace McKenzie Wagoner were locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel. McAdoo needed something to settle down.
And she did. McAdoo, an OU commitment, escaped unharmed and then led the Tigers to a 2-0 victory and third straight Class 4A state title.
“We wanted to come back and beat them when it really mattered,” McAdoo said. “We did our job.”
Tuttle made up for the 1-0 victory Wagoner and Newcastle posted in the regular season.
McAdoo struck out four and allowed six hits and a walk. Wagoner, a junior committed to Liberty, allowed two runs on six hits and a walk. She struck out four.
This time, Kady Fryrear hit a big RBI single in the third, which was enough for the win against a pitcher who did not allow an earned run until the regional tournament.
“I like playing pitchers that can throw,” Fryrear said. “Having that competition is great. I love having games like that, the close ones. They make you better.”