By Kevin Farr
For the Democrat
Caddo softball along with Calera and Silo baseball teams each advanced to state tournaments last week with dominant performances.
The defending state champion Lady Bruins cruised to another regional title on the diamond while Calera romped to a pair of super regional wins. Silo received a forfeit from Haworth but finished off the regular season with two dominant victories over Class B foes.
Colbert baseball and Calera softball each saw its season end with Class 2A super regional losses at Latta.
Caddo Softball
The top-ranked Lady Bruins rolled up Stonewall, 23-3, in its first regional outing before relatively tight 4-1 and 5-0 wins against Canute.
It was an offensive barrage against Stonewall as Caddo smashed 18 hits, nine of which went for extra bases. A 13-run first inning by the Lady Bruins put it on ice early.
Jaycie Nichols fueled the offensive charge with three hits, including an inside the park homer and triple. Jordyn Nichols and Kayden Cowan also had three hits.
The first Canute win was keyed by a three-run seventh inning from the Lady Bruins to make a pitching winner of Rylan Peevyhouse, who yielded one run on six hits and fanned eight.
Presley Beck was the catalyst with a double and triple.
In the title game, Caddo plated three runs in the second and two in the third and that was more than enough for Peevyhouse, who twirled a complete game two-hit shutout.
Lyndee Harless, Peevyhouse and Cowan all had two hits.
Calera Baseball
Coach Ricky Teafatiller’s Bulldogs made short work of Vanoss with 10-0 and 9-1 triumphs to reach the fall baseball state tournament for just the second time in school history.
Logan Bumgarner was in complete control in the first game, firing a one-hit shutout in the run rule decision. He struck out five.
Darren Johnson and Lex Carlson led the charge for Calera as each had a two-run hit in the opening four-run flurry. They both finished with two hits as did Zaiden Craige in the winning effort.
Craige got the pitching nod in game two and twirled a two-hit complete game, striking out seven and walking a pair.
It was a big game offensively as well for Craige as he tallied three hits, including a double, and drove in three. Cody Langley also chipped in two hits.
Silo Baseball
The 2A top-ranked Rebels broke things open late in an 11-6 win against Tupelo before whitewashing Moss, 13-0.
Braden Hill fired five frames in relief to pick up the Tupelo victory, yielding one run on four hits as he fanned eight.
Sophomore Nolan Northcott blasted a home run in the fourth to give Silo the lead for good as he ended with two hits and drove in a pair. Jory Allen and Bryce Vanderburg tossed in two hits apiece while Jeret House homered and drove in four.
The Rebels had another big offensive outing against Moss, including a seven-run first frame.
Sam Mendenall tossed five scoreless, no-hit frames and was credited with the mound win.
Zane Sander had a monster outing at the plate, blistering five hits including a double while driving in three. Mendenall contributed two hits and three RBI with Vandenburg adding two hits and two batted in. Cannon Atwood also added two hits and drove in a pair.
Colbert Baseball
Fresh off impressive wins over Oktaha and Silo to end the regular season, the Leopards couldn’t carry that momentum over the playoffs with 7-2 and 1-0 losses to Latta, ending with a 22-14 record.
Hits were hard to come by for Colbert in the first contest as they had four, including two by Canon Marr who also drove in one of their two runs. Brett Parsons had a double and Remington Graham contributed a single.
Kaden Neill was the tough luck losing pitcher in the game two duel as he yielded only two hits, but one of which left the ballpark on a solo homer.
Tucker Shields topped the offensive charge with two hits while Eric Hokett and Remington Graham each doubled.
Calera Softball
The Lady Bulldogs won the super regional opener 10-9 at Latta but that’s as far as they could get with back-to-back defeats at the hands of the Lady Panthers.
Taibree Melton contributed three hits and scored four times in the opener while Taylynn Conder was even more impressive with four hits and one RBI. Auhnesty Maytubby drove in four as part of two hits in the outing.
Laynie Paddock worked two innings in the pitching circle, allowing three runs on three hits, to secure the victory.
Calera ended with a 9-7 hit advantage in the second meeting – a 6-5 Latta win as a late inning rally from the Lady Bulldogs fell just short.
Conder continued swinging a hot bat with three hits, including a triple, and drove in a run. Maytubby and Jeslyn O’Dell tossed in a pair of hits apiece.
The near miss in game two may have carried over into the finale of the best-of-3 series as Calera posted nine hits, three of which came from Melton. Conder, Aaliyah Wesley, Makenna Owens, Taryn Niblett, Tori Allmon and Paddock all had one hit.