BASEBALL: Fightin' Chicks battle at state tournament
May 14—The Fightin' Chicks made noise in the Class 4A state tournament.
Playing at Noble High School last week, the Chickasha baseball program found itself in a state tournament for the first time since 2015. And the Fightin' Chicks were not going to go down without a fight.
No. 6 Chickasha trailed late after giving up a 1-0 lead in Thursday's quarterfinal against No. 3 Elk City. The Fightin' Chicks rallied for a 3-2 extra-inning win and the program's first win at state since the 2015 run.
"We've done a good job all year battling," second-year head coach Kevin James said after the win. "We just kept fighting. We're the Fightin' Chicks."
With Chickasha down 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Layton Bryan recorded the second of his two hits. A balk brought in the tying run later in the inning.
Chickasha and Elk City went to the bottom of the eighth inning in a 2-2 tie, and the team's ability to battle paid off. Base hits from Lane Jay and Kyler Venable came before a Lane Johnson walk loaded the bases with two outs.
Logan Palesano popped a ball up for what seemed to be the third out. Elk City could not come up with the ball, and Chickasha scored the winning run on the play.
Chickasha's season ended with a 7-1 loss to No. 2 Blanchard in the state semifinals, but Chickasha battled in that game as well. Chickasha only trailed 3-0 until the sixth inning and responded with back-to-back-to-back hits after the Lions took a 7-0 lead.
Venable drove in the team's one run with an RBI single.
Bryan battles
Bryan managed to get multiple hits at the plate, but he also kept Chickasha in the game with his performance on the mound. The junior pitcher went up against a potential high draft pick in Elk City's Kash Mayfield and stood his ground.
Despite not picking up the decision, Bryan got the start and battled through 7.2 innings. He helped keep Elk City scoreless in all but one inning and struck out eight batters.
"He battled his whole butt off," James said. "I'm proud of him."
Freshman steps up
Looking toward the future of Chickasha baseball, Jay stepped up for the Fightin' Chicks in the state tournament. As a freshman, Jay went 3 for 7 at the plate with an RBI in his two state games.
In his first state appearance, Jay delivered a pair of hits against Elk City and got Chickasha on the board. He gave the Fightin' Chicks a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.
Jay also recorded a base hit in the semifinal loss to Blanchard.
Season
Chickasha's semifinal run included an unbeaten playoff run until the semifinal loss. Chickasha swept through the regional tournament and area series before winning the quarterfinal game.
The Fightin' Chicks got to host a regional and earned the right to host an area series before the weather forced those games elsewhere. Chickasha went 28-9.
