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Published: September 24, 2008 01:12 pm
Lady Eagles storming into playoffs
Jeff Kaley
Waurika News-Democrat
WAURIKA —
With the opening of post-season looming on Thursday, Waurika’s girls couldn’t have chosen a better time to be playing their best softball of the 2008 season.
Getting set for the one-day, Class A District 15 Tournament, the Lady Eagles have won eight of their last 10 games and take a (13-10-1) record into the best-of-three playoff at Wilson.
Having finished a regular season over .500 for the first time in recent memory, Waurika surges into post-season having taken second in two recent tournaments, including the Lady Indians Classic at Comanche over the weekend.
“We’re playing really well right now,” said first-year WHS coach Aaron Minor. “It really started when we beat Central High a couple weeks ago, and our confidence has been pretty high since then.”
Waurika knocked off Ryan (11-2) and Marietta (3-1) in a tripleheader, then rolled into the title game of the Comanche tourney with pool division wins over Walters (3-1), Turner (12-0) and Ryan (13-1). Although they were edged, 2-1, by Central High in the Comanche finale, the Lady Eagles came back Monday to end the regular season with a 3-1 victory over Geronimo.
“Even in the loss to Central on Saturday, we played well,” Minor noted. “It was 0-0 through four innings, then (the Lady Bronchos) got two runs in the top of the fifth and what could have been the tying run was thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the inning.
“This was a good time to get some momentum going. Wilson beat us (8-0) when we played the first time, but we’ve got a chance to win district. We’ll have to play well, but we have been.”
Here’s a recap of recent game:
Sept. 8
Waurika 11, Ryan 2
Waurika 3, Marietta 1
Brittany Elkins pitched a one-hitter and the Lady Eagles turned a 3-1 lead into a comfortable advantage by erupting for four runs in the fourth inning against the Cowgirls.
Waurika punched out 10 hits against losing pitcher Shelby Thompson, paced by a double and single from Sage Perry and a pair of singles apiece from Kayla Salazar and Kacee Daily.
Elkins and Amber Hall each added a double to the offense, while Roxanne Sherrill and Patty Armstrong had a single each.
Against Marietta, the Lady Eagles scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the second and Elkins made the lead stand by tossing a four-hitter.
Making the best of five total hits, WHS got a triple from Salazar and a double from Megan Lovett, while Perry, Hall and Sherrill each added a single.
Comanche Tournament
Thursday & Saturday
Pools Games
Waurika 3, Walters 1
Avenging an earlier loss to the Lady Blue Devils, the Lady Eagles got the decisive run on a solo home run by Salazar in the top of the fifth inning. They added an insurance run when Daily singled and scored on a single by Hall.
Elkins, who fired a four-hitter, gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth, but finished with eight strikeouts in claiming the victory.
Waurika took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a lead-off triple by Elkins and an RBI-single from Perry.
Salazar also had a double, while Daily finished with a pair of singles and Lovett and Armstrong added a single apiece.
Waurika 12, Turner 0
(4 innings)
The Lady Eagles broke it open in the top of the fourth, when a six-run burst fueled a run-rule victory.
Leading, 2-0, in the second, a two-out rally started with a double by Salazar. By the time the inning ended, doubles by Elkins and Perry, and singles from Hall and Lovett had helped push the margin to 8-0.
WHS added four finals runs in the bottom of the third, which was more than enough support for pitcher Elkins, who struck out 10 in a two-hit performance.
Hall went 3-for-3, with all of her hits singles, while Lovett had two singles. Elkins and Daily each had a single.
Waurika 13, Ryan 1
The Cowgirls’ lone hit came when Thompson singled in the first inning and the Lady Eagles cruised by scoring all of their runs in the first four frames.
In addition to picking up the pitching win, Elkins ripped a two-run homer in the fifth inning and also had a single. Perry chipped in a triple and double, and Lovett had a triple and single.
Daily and freshman Makayla Peeples had a double and single each, while Hall had two singles. The 14-hit attack was also bolstered by a single each from Armstrong and Sherrill.
Title Game
Central High 2, Waurika 1
The Lady Broncs topped the Lady Eagles for the fourth time this season, but not without a struggle. Neither team scored until Central picked up a pair of runs off Elkins in the top of the fifth, both of which were unearned.
Perry had three singles in three at-bats, with Hall adding a single and double.
Daily, Elkins, Lovett and Armstrong each had a single apiece.
Monday
Waurika 3, Geronimo 1
Closing their first winning season in at least six years, the Lady Eagles opened a 3-0 lead, before the Lady Blue Jays picked up a tally in the bottom of the sixth.
Paced by Perry’s 2-for-3 performance at the plate, WHS scored two decisive runs in the third inning and padded the margin with a run in the fourth.
Elkins went the distance for the win, limiting Geronimo to three hits and striking out eight.
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