Stuart snaps 58-year drought, Washington, Caddo go back-to-back, Morrison avenges loss

The Oklahoma Class 3A-B fastpitch softball state championship games were held on Saturday at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex. Here's a recap of the action:

Class 3A: Washington 2, Tishomingo 0

Tinley Lucas knew she could get the ball over the fence.

Earlier in the game, the senior had pulled one foul that had gone over left field.

This time she was going to make it right.

Lucas reared back and hammered a solo home run on the left field fence of OG&E Energy Field to extend Washington’s lead. It was her second home run in two days and it gave Washington pitcher Maggie Place enough cushion to dominate from the circle the way she’s done since her arrival four years ago.

Three outs later, Washington was dogpiling again near the pitcher's circle as the Warriors took down Tishomingo 2-0 on Saturday. Place, who was pitching in her fourth state championship game, was caught in the middle of it.

And she deserved it.

She had struck out five batters and allowed just one hit in the final.

“She started in her 11th state tournament game today,” Washington coach Tylor Lampkin said. “That might be more than anybody that I know before. Being in this atmosphere is no big deal to her. I think she ended this season with a 0.35 ERA. I don’t know if she’s the best but she’s definitely in the conversation as one of the best ones ever.”

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The senior pitcher-catcher duo of Place and Lucas have been dominant all year long. And they produced when Washington needed them most.

Place ends her Washington career as a two-time state champion and one of the winningest pitchers in the program.

“It’s just really awesome,” Place said, “just to get to leave a legacy here, it’s really fun.”

Place wasn’t the only dominant pitcher on Saturday. The final was a pitcher's duel between Place and Tishomingo’s Jayden Anderson. Combined the pitchers allowed just five hits throughout the game. Anderson struck out 10 batters but it wasn’t enough to keep Washington’s high-powered offense scoreless.

In the first inning, Washington’s Elly Allison hit an RBI single to left-center to score Ellie Lovelace who hit a triple. And in the third, Tinley hit her home run.

“The feeling is immaculate right now,” Lucas said. “We knew that it was going to take a lot of work to get back to this spot and to keep our title and the fact that we actually pulled it off is pretty amazing. It feels great going out like that.”

Class B: Stuart 5, Whitesboro 3

Chloe Akin knew she had to make the difficult play.

With two outs and a runner on third, Whitesboro smacked a line drive to center field.

“I had no idea,” Akin, the outfielder from Stuart said about her assurance on catching the ball. “I was scared for my life.”

If the senior let the ball get by her, Whitesboro was most likely going to tie the game. So, instead, she dropped to her knees and slid underneath the ball, just getting her glove underneath it. When she realized she caught it, Akin laid face down in the grass.

In relief. In celebration. In amazement.

The 58-year drought was over.

Akin’s catch helped secure Stuart’s 5-3 Class B state championship win over Whitesboro on Saturday. It’s Stuart’s (37-5) first fastpitch state championship since 1964 and second overall.

“It’s a dream,” Stuart coach Chance Chapman said. “You see these guys win it year in and year out and you just think about what it would be like to be that team to celebrate on championship Saturday. The feeling is unbelievable.”

The final was filled with action as the teams combined to score in the first four innings of the game.

Stuart got on top first as Haili Igor smacked an RBI single to center field to score Geralyn Haney. The Hornets struck again in the second when Maddie Lindley scored on a throwing error from second. In the third, Stuart loaded the bases with nobody out and Jadyn Dalton smashed a bases-clearing double to right-center to score three runs.

Whitesboro got on the board in the third as Linley Collins hit an RBI sac-fly to score Madison Grogan. The Bulldogs struck again in the fourth as Darah Cole hit an RBI double to score Kayleigh Walker. Whitesboro put its final run across in the seventh after Addison Walker knocked in Collins.

But Akin’s catch in centerfield put everything to a halt.

“She’s just a bulldog,” Chapman said of Akin. “When that ball was hit, I could tell it was going to be a tough play. When she made that slide and that grab. It was fitting.”

Stuart took down Kiowa 2-0 in the quarterfinal, Buffalo Valley 6-2 in the semifinal before topping Whitesboro en route to its first state championship in nearly 60 years.

“It’s insane,” Igor said. “I don’t even have words for it.”

Class A: Caddo 2, Ripley 0

Emily Robinson forced the Ripley batter into another ground ball.

And the result was the same as it's been all year.

Timber Hensley picked it up and flung it to first as a big smile appeared on her face.

The defense had forced another out, this one the biggest of the year.

After the ball fell into Jordyn Nichols' glove, the Bruins rushed for the dogpile that they’ve recently grown accustomed to performing at USA Hall of Fame Stadium.

They were champions again.

Caddo took down Ripley 2-0 in seven innings for its third consecutive softball title. In the past two years, under coach Dustin McKay, the Bruins have won their first fastpitch title (2021), first slowpitch title (2022) and are now the first to go back-to-back in school history.

“It’s unbelievable,” McKay said. “These girls have bought into what we’re doing and they’re just great competitors. I just told them, ‘They’ve helped us make this part of a tradition.’ We’re going to go up to the state tournament every year and we’re going to try to compete.”

McKay said the key to Caddo’s championship win was its base running. And in the fourth inning, the Bruins proved why as they earned two runs. Emily Robinson hit a sac fly to foul territory and Jaycie Nichols scored after tagging at third. Four batters later, Rylan Peevyhouse knocked in Kadey Lee McKay with an infield single.

From there, it was all defense. Robinson threw all seven innings, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts.

“My defense is one of the best in the state,” Robinson said, “so, I just wanted to let them make plays because that’s just how much I believe in our fielding.”

Robinson is one of the three seniors Caddo (41-1) will graduate but it will bring back many players from its back-to-back state championship team. It includes junior Kadey Lee McKay, who committed to the Sooners in September.

“It’s crazy, I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team,” Kadey said. “This team is incredible. We love each other, we play so good together and we just love the sport so just going out there knowing that we can keep doing that we can just keep doing that is just incredible.”

Class 2A: Morrison 2, Pocola 0

Coming up short in the last two tournaments was on all of the Morrison Wildcats' minds.

Morrison had just fallen to Pocola in the slowpitch state title game a year ago. Morrison had also lost to Silo in last season’s fastpitch state title game.

So, when the Wildcats stepped onto the field for the first time this year, all the way back in August. They were all in agreement.

It was time to break through again.

The Wildcats made that a reality when senior pitcher Hally Vaughn fired a pitch past the Pocola batter’s swing and into the glove of senior catcher Audrey Warriner for the final out of the state championship. Warriner sprang in the air and gave a hard fist pump as Morrison had won it all again.

“My heart was racing,” Warriner said. “I couldn’t keep it down.”

Morrison took down Pocola 2-0 on Saturday for the Class 2A state title. The Morrison seniors, which have been pivotal for the program, had earned four straight fastpitch state tournament appearances throughout their career. They began their run with a title in 2019 and closed it with one in 2022.

“We came back hungry,” Morrison coach J.T. Freeman said. “That was our motto all year, ‘Let’s eat, let’s stay hungry.’ An amazing group of seniors, an amazing group of girls. Really proud of them and it just means a lot for the girls and the community.”

The two teams were held scoreless through the first two innings. But Morrison (32-7) finally made a breakthrough in the third as senior Kallie Rupp smashed a two-run home run to center field to score Aleigh Tucker, who hit a single to start the inning. It would prove to be the only runs of the game and Morrison's only two hits. But it was all Vaughn needed to finish the game from the circle.

“I knew we could always do it,” Rupp said, “but it’s just awesome to finish how we started in 2019 now that our four years are up. We ended on a great note.”

The senior class also includes Kansas commit September Flanagan and Rylee Hughes.

“We started off rough," Flanagan said, “and we all gelled together at the beginning of regionals and we put it all together and made it back here. We put it back together one last time.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school softball: Class 3A-B fastpitch state final scores