Turner, Caddo and Pocola clinch State Championships in Class A, 2A and 3A

We are halfway through the State Tournaments for Slowpitch and we have seen state champions crowned in Class A, 2A and 3A with Class 4A, 5A and 6A right around the corner on Monday let’s recap the action from Tuesday.

Turner wins first State Championship in School History

Turner was definitely a team I had been observing from a far and I was impressed with the Lady Falcons at the State Tournament and two players that stood out in my opinion was junior Alex Westfall and senior Karlee Russell, Both players hit it really well and made some big plays on defense, They would defeat Roff 11-3 in the opening round and Russell would lead the team with four hits and three RBI, Then they would move on to defeat Whitesboro 21-16 in a high scoring afair as they would outscore the Lady Bulldogs 16-5 in the final three innings, They would then advance to the championship for the first time in school history where they would defeat Lookeba-Sickles 7-4 who was also in the title game for the first time in school history, Despite scoring all seven runs in the third the defense came up clutch and made some big plays and for head coach Shane Hill it would be his first championship in 25 years of coaching, He had been runner up four times. In an interview with the Daily Oklahoman he said he was “tired of watching people celebrate on me and that he told the girls if deserved was a part of it, there’s no one who deserves it more than us. We played good all day long and we’re ecstatic”.

Caddo wins first state title in school history

Caddo was a team I had watched from a far this season, They looked the part of a title contender all season and they was rolling all the way to the championship on a 20 game win streak on their way to a State best 41-4 record, A few players that stood out in my opinion was freshmen Jaycie and Jordyn Nichols, Sophomore Kadey McKay and junior Emily Robinson. The Lady Bruins would start by defeating Cyril 9-5 in the opening round which was also a rematch of the Class A fastpitch state championship, They would put up six runs in the 6th inning to take the lead over Cyril, An RBI double from Jordyn Nichols would start the momentum, Then they would defeat Bennington 15-3 in the semis and they would take a 5-1 lead early and never look back, Jordyn Nichols would lead the team with four hits and four RBI, They would then face Ripley in the championship who they would defeat 18-8. The Lady Bruins would fall behind 5-1 after a couple innings but two home runs from Jaycie and Jordyn Nichols would get them back into the game and they never looked back from there, Ripley would answer back with two runs and loaded bases in the forth but it wouldn’t be enough as Caddo would put up ten runs to clinch the championship by run rule.

Pocola wins first championship since 2007

I had covered Pocola a couple times in the regular season in the Leflore County Tournament and I knew I seen a legit contender when I seen them play. A few players that stood out in my opinion was freshman Allyssa Parker, sophomore Maci Maxwell and juniors Kylee Smith and Kail Chitwood. They would start out by defeating Boone-Apache in the opening round 13-7 which would be a tight game at first until the Lady Indians put up five runs in the 6th behind an RBI double from Maci Maxwell, Then they would advance to the semifinals where they would defeat Latta 9-8 in a very tight game, Kail Chitwood would have the game winning run as she advanced to third but would get to score home as an overthrown ball to third would roll into the dugout advancing the Lady Indians to the championship for first time since 2007. The Lady Indians would now be matched up with the defending state champion Morrison who they would defeat 9-3 to win it for first time since 2007, They would have an 8-0 lead within two innings as they made some big plays on offense and defense including a big RBI double from Kylee Smith in the 6th to add on to lead.