The Preston Lady Pirate slowpitch softball team earned a split decision Tuesday evening in Haskell.
The Preston Lady Pirate slowpitch softball team earned a split decision Tuesday evening in Haskell.
The Lady Pirates, ranked 13th in Class 4A, made the trip to Muskogee County for a pair of showdowns with two talented teams ranked in the Top 10 in Class 4A - No. 6 Haskell and No. 7 Oktaha.
The Preston ladies dropped their Top 15 meeting with the host Haskell Lady Haymakers by a 13-0 margin, then notched a 12-7 upset win over the seventh-ranked Oktaha Lady Tigers in their other Top 15 matchup on Tuesday.
The Lady Pirates were back in action on Thursday, hosting Canadian and will also be at home on Friday, welcoming their Okmulgee County rivals, the Okmulgee Lady Bulldogs, to town for a county showdown.
The Preston diamond squad will close out their regular-season schedule on Monday, traveling to Dewar for a 3-team showdown between Checotah and the host Dewar Lady Dragons.
In Tuesday’s battle with Haskell, the Lady Pirates were limited to just two base hits in the contest - a single by Emilie Stidman in the first and a single by Kate Smith in the fourth. Smith also reached on a fielder’s choice in the first, while the only other Preston baserunner against Haskell was Kylea Quammen, who drew a walk in the third.
Haskell opened the scoring with six runs in the bottom of the first, then added a run in the second and six in the third to hand the Lady Pirates the 13-0, shutout, loss.
In Tuesday’s showdown with Oktaha, the Preston squad broke a scoreless tie with a 5-run top of second. The Lady Pirates then added two in the third for a 7-0 advantage.
The Lady Tigers broke up the shutout bid with three runs in the bottom of the third, then added two in each of the next two frames to knot the score at 7-7 after five innings of action.
The Preston offense broke the deadlock with five runs in the top of the sixth, while the defense kept Oktaha off the scoreboard in the final two frames to award the Lady Pirates the 12-7 victory.
The top offensive performer for Preston in the 5-run win was Pheobey Finch, who finished 3 for 4 with three singles and 2 RBIs.
The duo of Celeste Pineda (2 for 3, 2 singles, RBI) and Kinlee Basquez (2 for 4, 2 singles, RBI) also recorded multi-hit games against Oktaha with two hits apiece.
The other base hits for the Lady Pirates in the upset win came on singles by Karris Tecumseh and McKenna Jones and RBI singles by Emilie Stidman and Jadyn Roberts.
Other baserunners against Oktaha were Stidman (RBI walk, fielder’s choice), Pineda (walk), Tecumseh (walk, error), Kate Smith (error), Kylea Quammen (2 fielder’s choices), and Jade Horn (3 walks, RBI).
Haskell 13, Preston 0
Preston: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 0 - 2 - 2
Haskell: 6 - 1 - 6 - x 13 - 17 - 0
WP: McKenna Jones
LP: Ward
HR: Haskell: Kelley, Wright
Preston 12, Oktaha 7
Preston: 0 - 5 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 5 - 0 12 - 11 - 3
Oktaha: 0 - 0 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 0 - 0 7 - 8 - 3
WP: McKenna Jones
LP: Otledilifter
HR: Oktaha: Bunch
