OKLAHOMA CITY – Facing the proverbial gauntlet of the top three teams in Class 4A on the same day, the surging Silo Lady Rebels seemed undeterred in the slow pitch state tournament at Hall of Fame Stadium last week.
They downed number three Oktaha (14-7) and avenged a semifinal loss in 2023 to second-ranked Pocola (9-6) to advance to the title game for the fourth time. Much the same as those previous finals trips (2018, 2019, 2021) the foe was top-ranked and slow pitch juggernaut Dale.
After trailing early, Silo slayed the Dale demons of years past with an unbelievable closing 10run outburst in the sixth inning to break a tie and post a 14-4 run rule win for its first-ever slow pitch crown.
“We knew what we were going to be facing after Oktaha got beat in the regional,” head coach Mike Lawless stated. “The kids were excited though, and we had been playing really well down the stretch. They knew if we played to our ability things would take care of themselves. Winning the first game is always huge and then we got redemption for last year in the semifinals. As if we needed any motivation in the championship, it was Dale again. It was definitely a long, tough day and I’m so proud of the way the girls performed.” Opening with a showdown against Oktaha, the Lady Rebels got off to a quick start by notching three tallies in the first frame and one more in the second as Bree Ginn and Avery Beauchamp drove in runs with doubles.
The Lady Tigers rallied to take a 6-4 edge in the fourth before back-to-back five-run uprisings by Silo put it away over the next two stanzas.
Connie Tubby, Brooklyn Toney and Ginn connected on consecutive homers in the first explosion. Timber Hensley added a three-run blast and Toney drove in two more with a double that capped the scoring in the fifth inning.
Ginn led the offensive charge with three hits as Hensley and Toney tallied two apiece.
A late charge proved vital again in the semifinals as the Lady Rebels trailed 6-4 through four innings. Silo plated four in the fifth to take the lead and tacked on an insurance run in the sixth as the Lady Rebels posted an 18-8 advantage in hits.
Dylan Paddock and Jayci Webb each provided pinch hit run-scoring singles to give Silo the lead.
Toney racked up a teamleading three hits as Hensley, Neely House, Connie Tubby and Webb all had two.
The finale against Dale started the way of the previous state finals battles as the Pirates took an early 3-0 advantage on the strength of two first inning home runs.
Silo slowly narrowed the gap with one in the bottom of the opening stanza as Hensley doubled and scored and another in the second on a Ginn solo home run. Down 4-2 in the fifth, the Lady Rebels tied it up on two-out hits from House and Tubby to set the stage for the massive sixth frame.
Two singles and a pair of walks forced in the go ahead run before Dale ever got an out and seven consecutive hits with two down put on the finishing touches. Connie Tubby’s monster three-run homer over the centerfield fence seemed to vanquish all the air out of the Dale sails and that was followed by five straight singles, including Kostina Tubby’s two-run slap to right for the walk off.
“Dale has definitely been our kryptonite,” Lawless said. “Every year we’ve talked about being the first to win one in slow pitch and now this group accomplished that. One of the things we have talked about is it’s only impossible until someone does it. It feels so good for the kids that they worked their tails off and did it right both on and off the field. It’s nice that all that hard work paid off and we got to bring home the hardware.
“Makayla (Clark) did a great job keeping them off stride after the first two home runs, getting a lot of fly balls. Our offense sputtered for a while, but slow pitch is such a game of momentum. Once you get going it’s like you just can’t get out sometimes and that’s what happened in the sixth. This group can really hit when we get our pitch, but it was just a matter of discipline. We got what we wanted and hit it. Our depth was great and this was just the epitome of a team effort. When their number was called, they were ready to go.”
Silo outhit Dale by a whopping 17-5 margin as Hensley, House, Connie Tubby, Toney, Ginn, Beauchamp and Clark each notched two hits.
