Marathon day on the diamond

Six games.

Four-hundred-fifty-four pitches.

That’s what the Kingfisher High School softball team - and pitching staff - managed Saturday while nearly pulling off an improbable tournament championship.

The Lady Jackets were defeated 6-1 by Mooreland late Saturday night in the championship game of the Woodward High School Fastpitch Tournament.

The loss was the end of 10 games in three days, including six on Saturday.

“Once you drop into the loser’s bracket, it’s a long way out,” head coach Danny Green said.

Drop Kingfisher did when it was defeated 6-3 Friday in the second round by Mooreland.

At that point, the Lady Jackets were 2-2 in the tournament.

They opened Thursday by splitting their pool play games: A 13-4 victory against Laverne JV and a 4-2 loss to Elk City.

The return trip Friday to open bracket play saw them defeat Beaver/Forgan 6-5 before the three-run defeat to Mooreland.

That left KHS one game from elimination.

Unfortunately for the rest of the field, the Lady Jackets refused to get eliminated Saturday as they won five straight games to keep charging through the consolation bracket and back to the finals.

“It was amazing to see the fight we gave as a team to keep going and not just take the easy way out and give up our first game,” said senior Olivia Wilcox.

If KHS had the “don’t give up” attitude, Wilcox was helping lead by example.

She threw at least one inning in all six of the games, including complete games in the last four.

Of the 454 pitches thrown by a trio of Lady Jackets, 385 came from the right arm of Wilcox.

“That’s the most I’ve pitched in one day and my arm definitely feels it,” Wilcox said.

She got help from her defense as KHS committed just seven errors in the six Saturday games.

Outside of the loss to Mooreland, no team managed more than three runs. Six was the most given up by the Lady Jackets in any game in the tournament.

“Our pitching was great all day,” Green said. “And we eliminated most errors with solid defense.”

The day started with a 13-3 victory over Seiling in four innings.

Natalie Dick threw the first three innings and gave up just two hits and a run to earn the win.

She also had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run as KHS pounded out 11 hits and had 11 RBIs overall.

Next up was a second matchup with Beaver/Forgan, but this wasn’t as close as Friday’s battle as Kingfisher needed only three innings for a 14-2 victory.

KHS scored 10 runs in the first to kickstart their effort.

Wilcox had three hits and drove in three runs for the game while fellow senior Kaycee Karcher was 2 for 4 with three runs and four RBIs.

Karcher and Wilcox both went 8 for 18 (.444) on the day. Wilcox drove in eight runs.

Karcher had nine RBIs and scored 11 times.

The shortstop said she was determined to do her part to help out with the teams’ collective backs against the wall.

“Everyone on the team wanted to do well and make a comeback so I really wanted to play to the best of my abilities,” Karcher said.

The Lady Jackets then got a shot to avenge their first tournament loss against Elk City.

Wilcox fanned eight and gave up just six hits in a 4-0 five-inning shutout.

She also went 2 for 3 and drove in two runs, including the hit that broke the game open.

With her team clinging to a 2-0 lead, Wilcox delivered a two-run single with two outs in the top of the fifth.

KHS followed that up with a 8-2 elimination win over Clinton as it scored six unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Dick, Wilcox, Mya Dewberry and Emma Lukasek each picked up an RBI in the four-run fifth.

Karcher delivered an RBI double and Dick another run-scoring single in the sixth.

Wilcox only gave up four hits and neither run was earned as she again struck out eight Lady Reds.

Guymon awaited in the semifinals and Kingfisher wasted no time taking command.

The Lady Jackets scored six runs in the first two innings en route to an 8-1 victory - their fifth straight of the day.

After Dewberry slashed an RBI single, Emma Lukasek pushed two runs across when she reached on an error in the first.

Dewberry delivered again in the second with a two-run single.

That was more than enough for Wilcox who only gave up four hits an one unearned run while striking out four in the four-inning victory.

The magic ran out against Mooreland as KHS committed two errors and had just three hits.

Dick managed two of them and was 10 of 17 (.588) at the plate for the day.

She also drove in six and scored eight runs.

Dick was the epitome of Kingfisher’s ability to deliver throughout the day.

“Our base running was solid, so we converted with runs when we did hit the ball,” Green said.

The Lady Jackets were 7-3 in the tournament and 9-4 overall.

“I wasn’t sure how we were standing at the end, but they toughed it out,” Green said.

Wilcox summed it up best:

“I’m beyond proud of this team and what we can accomplish if we put our minds to it,” she said.

“It was a very empowering experience.”