The Preston Lady Pirate varsity slowpitch softball team extended its current winning streak to three games earlier this week with a pair of run-rule victories over the Mounds Lady Eagles.
The Lady Pirates (4-3) began the week with a 15-1 road win on Monday, then completed the home-and-home sweep of the Lady Eagles with an 18-5 decision in Tuesday’s home opener.
The Preston ladies will close out the week on Friday with home games against Moss and Holdenville. The home meetings with the Lady Pirates and Lady Wolverines will be part of a 4-team festival that will also feature the Henryetta Lady Knights.
Friday’s festival action will begin at 11 a.m. with Henryetta taking on Moss, followed at 12:15 p.m. with the Lady Knights squaring off against Holdenville. The final two games of the festival (1:30 and 2:45 p.m.) will feature the host Preston Lady Pirates taking on Moss and Holdenville in back-to-back contests.
The Lady Pirates will begin next week’s action Tuesday at home against Eufaula and Kellyville in a 3-team showdown with Preston closing out the week at the Okmulgee Festival next Thursday and Friday in Okmulgee.
In Monday’s road game at Mounds, the lone Mounds run came in the bottom of the third.
Preston opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the first then added two more in the second for an early 5-0 advantage.
After a scoreless top of third, the Lady Pirates plated five runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to complete the 15-1, runrule, victory.
Taylan Starr was the top hitter for the Preston squad on Monday, finishing 4 for 4 with two singles, a double, triple, and 2 RBIs.
The trio of Celeste Pineda (3 for 4, 3 singles, 4 RBIs), Jaiden Harley (3 for 4, 2 singles, home run, 3 RBIs), and Kristen Holuby (3 for 4, 3 singles, RBI) were next in the hit column for the Lady Pirates with three hits apiece, while Kinlee Basquez (2 for 3, 2 singles) and Caris Tecumseh (2 for 3, single, home run, RBI) also tallied multi-hit games on Monday with two hits each. Harley’s home run came on a 2-run blast in the first, while Tecumseh rounded the bases on a solo home run in the second.
The final three Preston base hits on Monday came on singles by Emilie Stidman and Olivia Beaver and a 2-run home run (in the fourth) by Na’Braijhanae Phillips.
In Tuesday’s home opener against Mounds, the host Lady Pirates opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first.
The visitors made it a 3-2 contest with two runs in the top of the second, while the Preston ladies put the game out of reach in the home half of the inning, plating 10 runs in the frame for a commanding 13-2 advantage.
After Mounds tallied three runs in the top of the third to make it a 13-5 contest, the Lady Pirates ended the game on the run-rule – 18-5 – with five runs in the last of the third with the final two runs coming on a 2-run home run by Josie Cope.
The Lady Pirate offensive attack on Tuesday was led by the duo of Taylan Starr (3 for 3, double, triple, home run, 2 RBIs) and Na’Braijhanae Phillips (3 for 3, single, double, home run, 4 RBIs) with three hits apiece. Starr’s home run came on a solo blast in the third, while Phillips cleared the bases with a 2-run shot in the first.
Other Preston batters with multi-hit games on Tuesday were Celeste Pineda (2 for 3, single, triple, RBI), Kristen Holuby (2 for 3, double, triple, RBI), Kinlee Basquez (2 for 2, double, triple), and Emilie Stidman (2 for 2, double, triple, 2 RBIs) with two hits each.
Besides Cope’s game-ending 2-run home run in the third, the other Lady Pirate base hits in the home opener came on RBI singles by Caris Tecumseh and Aiyana Beaver and a 2-run home run (in the 2nd) by Jaiden Har- ley.
— Monday, March 18 Preston 15, Mounds 1
Preston: 3 – 2 – 0 – 5 – 5 15 – 20 – 0 Mounds:0-0-1-0-0 1-3-0 WP: Josie Cope LP: Perez HR: Preston: Jaiden Harley, Caris Tecumseh, Na’Braijhanae Phillips — Tuesday, March 19 Preston 18, Mounds 5
Mounds:0- 2 -3 5 – 6 -2 Preston: 3 – 10 – 5 18 – 18 – 0 WP: Josie Cope LP: Perez HR: Mounds: Abbott, Miller; Preston: Taylan Starr, Jaiden Harley, Josie Cope, Na’Braijhanae Phillips
