In quest of a fourth straight slow pitch state championship, the Caddo Lady Bruins rode a strong playoff tune up performance in sweeping to the Caney Tournament championship last week as they toppled Bryan County foe Calera in the title game, 12-4.
Coach Dustin McKay’s squad blistered five ranked foes, including four impressive shutouts as the top-ranked team in Class 3A improved their record to 24-3.
The Lady Bruins smashed Stonewall (10-0) before posting back-toback 8-0 run-rule victories over Class A fourth-rated Soper and second-ranked Turner.
Jordyn Nichols racked up three hits, including a triple, to lead an 11-hit assault of Stonewall. Brylee Daniel and Lyndee Harless contributed three hits apiece to surge past Soper while Jaycie Nichols was only a single away from the cycle as they toppled Turner, finishing with a double, triple and homer.
Caddo then dropped Class 4A 11th ranked Valliant, 9-0, to advance to the finals behind another three hits by Jaycie Nichols. Daniel, Harless and Presley Beck notched two apiece.
The Lady Bruins wrapped up the title charge with the 12-4 win over Calera, having to rally to do so.
Caddo built a 2-0 advantage through three innings but saw the Lady Bulldogs plate four in the fourth to take the lead. The Lady Bruins responded quickly as Jordyn Nichols doubled and Beck homered to tie the score and ignite a massive nine-run outburst. Jordyn Nichols added another runscoring double before the frame ended.
Calera Softball
Despite suffering a 5-3 loss to Class A second-ranked Turner early in the event, the Lady Bulldogs put together an extremely impressive string of victories to advance all the way back to the Caney Tournament finals.
Calera bounced Rock Creek (51), Class 2A fifth-rated Rattan (6-0) and Class A number one Caney (11-10) before avenging their earlier defeat to Turner by a whopping 14-3 margin. The Lady Bulldogs then added a 6-4 verdict over Class 4A 11th ranked Valliant to set up the Caddo showdown in the finale while running their season record to 25-10.
Kaira Beller notched three hits, including a pair of doubles, in the Rock Creek win while Auhnesty Maytubby, Jeslyn O’Dell, Makenna Owens and Taryn Niblett all tossed in two hits against Rattan.
It was a wild 18-hit affair for the Lady Bulldogs as they held off Caney thanks to three-hit efforts from Taibree Melton, Maytubby and Owens along with a Taylynn Conder home run.
They continued to fan the offensive fire in the Turner revenge game as Maytubby and Rilyn Teafatiller each had three hits and drove in four. Melton and Beller also spurred Calera with three hits.
Conder’s two doubles and three batted in keyed the Valliant win that pushed Calera all the way to the finals.
In that finale, the Lady Bulldogs claimed a 4-2 fourth inning lead thanks to a Conder two-run homer, Beller RBI double and Owens runscoring single, but that lead didn’t hold up against the Caddo powerhouse.
Silo Softball
Facing a plethora of Class 6A foes, Silo notched a 3-1 record in the power-packed Dale Festival to gear up for the upcoming 4A state playoffs.
The defending state champions blasted Pryor (11-1), edged Moore (7-6) and then dispatched Tecumseh (13-8) before a 12-3 loss to powerhouse Choctaw.
Connie Tubby had three hits, including a home run, and drove in four in the smacking of Pryor.
They then held off Moore behind four hits, including a pair of doubles, from Jayci Webb and three hits by Trinity Ford.
Tubby had three more hits that included a pair of homers, tossing in three runs batted in for good measure against Tecumseh. Paetyn Garrett and Bree Ginn ended with three hits each as Kostina Tubby, Dylan Paddock, Maddix Sander and Cache Atwood all had two.
Hits were a lot more sparse against Choctaw but Tubby still homered twice and drove in three.
