North Rock Creek ousts Tishomingo
The Classes 3A-B fastpitch softball state tournaments began Thursday at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex. Here's a quick recap of the quarterfinals.
Class 3A North Rock Creek 8, Tishomingo 5
North Rock Creek coach Chance Griffin was shaking his head with a smile on his face.
“It's amazing what this group is doing,” Griffin said, “because we got no girls with experience in the fastpitch playoffs and for them to come in and embrace this moment and compete at the level that they are is impressive.”
In its first state tournament appearance, North Rock Creek knocked off two-time defending champion Tishomingo 8-5 in a game that went back-andforth on Field 3.
North Rock Creek's defense has been its strength all season and it was tested Thursday. After North Rock Creek jumped to a quick three-run lead behind Katie Larson, Hannah Earlywine and Caty Baack driving in runs, Tishomingo answered.
Kenzlea Elkins scored Jayden Anderson in the fourth inning. Cheyenne Wood, Morgan Bryant and Trista Barrett collectively knocked in four runs as Tish took a 5-3 lead.
But North Rock Creek responded. Singles from Baack, Sarah Campbell and Raynee Bass helped account for four runs. This time, Tishomingo didn't answer back.
“We knew that they were a good team,” Griffin said. “We knew that they had graduated a few, but winners win. We said after the first game if we knock off the defending champs there's going to be a new one in 3A and why not it be us?”
Washington 10, Comanche 0
Maggie Place and the Washington defense were on full display on Thursday.
Place threw a nine-strikeout shutout as Washington run-ruled Comanche 10-0 in six innings. Place's dominance held Comanche to just two hits in its first state tournament appearance since 1989, its second in school history.
"When Maggie's throwing the way she did today," first-year Washington coach Tylor Lampkin said, "it's hard for people to score a lot of runs."
Ellie Loveless' triple in the first inning helped the Warriors take advantage of Comanche's errors and put across three runs. After Place knocked in Loveless, the Warriors were held without a run until the fifth inning.
But that's where Washington found its stride to put the game away.
Washington scored seven of its 10 runs in the final two innings to force the run-rule. Seven different Warriors recorded hits in the win.
"We didn't hit it great early," Lampkin said. "I think we were over-aggressive a bit but once we became a little more patient, we were able to score a lot of runs."
Dewey 4, Perry 2
Makenna Smith hit a leadoff single to left field in the top of the seventh inning to get Dewey started. From there her teammates brought it home.
Dewey pushed three runs across the plate in the final inning to secure a 4-2 win over Perry. Kaleena Downing led with two hits and an RBI followed by Katie Wright, who recorded two hits as well.
"I think we played a great game defensively," Dewey coach Nicole Keck said. "We made a lot of plays, got out of a lot of innings. Kudos to Perry, they gave us a good fight and I'm proud of my team, proud of my team for in that last inning giving us some insurance runs and securing the win."
Class 2A Silo 8, Dale 3
Shaylin Midgley stepped to the plate with a purpose.
Trailing Dale by three runs in the third inning, the UCO commit knew she had to get something going for her team.
Midgley smashed a two-run home run in the third inning to swing the momentum back in Silo's favor.
It was all the Rebels needed to blow the game open.
After giving up three runs in the first inning, Silo scored in the final four to take an 8-3 win over the Pirates on OG&E Energy Field. Charley Hampton hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Silo the lead for good.
“We just needed for somebody to give us life and Shaylin Midgley hit the home run in the first and it was like, ‘OK let's calm down and play ball,'” Silo coach Mike Lawless said.
Amber-Pocasset 3, Pocola 0
After a slow start, Amber-Pocasset bested Pocola 3-0 on OG&E Energy Field. Amber-Pocasset's Addisyn Peterson and Pocola's Allyssa Parker were in a pitcher's duel through the first five innings.
Am-Po's Gracen Hicks hit an RBI single to score Addee Keeling in the fifth and Am-Po padded the lead with two more runs in the sixth.
Latta 7, Fairland 0
Latta, the defending Class 2A state champions, recorded seven hits in its 7-0 win over Fairland.
Class A Caddo 7, Shattuck 1
It was a fast start that separated Caddo from Shattuck.
“It started with our leadoff,” Caddo coach Dustin McKay said.
“If she gets on, we roll pretty well. And once we get going it's hard to stop us.”
That's what happened on Integris Field. Caddo scored five runs in the second inning to best Shattuck 7-1 Leadoff batter Jaycie Nichols led the charge with three hits and three RBI followed by Anna Jo Adair with two hits. Emily Robinson knocked in three runs.
“We had some girls that's been kind of cold here lately coming through with some clutch hits toward the bottom half of the lineup,” McKay said. “And I think we really got something rolling into the next game.”
Arapaho-Butler 2, Binger-Oney 1
Brecken Hunter recorded a walk-off RBI on an error to give Arapaho-Butler a 2-1 win over Binger-Oney in extra innings. Arapaho-Butler only tallied one hit, but it was all it needed.
Both teams were held scoreless until the ninth inning. Arapaho-Butler tallied its final two runs on a walk and Hunter's ground ball.
Class B Roff 1, Turner 0
Lillie McDonald hadn't had her best day at the plate.
In fact, most of her teammates didn't as Turner junior pitcher Alex Westfall struck out 14.
But when McDonald's teammates needed her most, she delivered.
In the bottom of the ninth inning with a runner on third, McDonald hit a walkoff RBI double to give Roff a 1-0 win over Turner in extra innings. Roff recorded just two hits, the other coming from Kendra Kirk in the fifth inning.
"The girl in the circle ended up being a little bit better than I expected," Roff coach Jason Trimmer said. "We were striking out over and over again. And a kid who had a really rough day gets up there with two strikes and just gets it done. It doesn't get any better than that."
Roff starting pitcher Danleigh Harris threw all nine innings, giving up just three hits and striking out 12.
Whitesboro 6, Buffalo Valley 0
Madison Grogan didn't look a bit nervous in her first state tournament game.
The freshman pitcher from Whitesboro was surrounded by teammates who had all been to the state tournament before, and it provided a sense of comfort.
Grogan recorded 12 strikeouts in Whitesboro's 6-0 win over Buffalo Valley on Field 2. Kinley Barron, Grogan and Maura Cole each knocked in a run.
“I was most proud of my pitcher,” Whitesboro coach Jo Ann Scarbery said. “She came in pitching lights out. She just stayed cool and done her job. Then, my top hitters, they did what they needed to do to get the job done.”