KHS edges Okarche to end skid
Adlee Friesen
Jancee Matthews scored on an error Thursday to help give Kingfisher a walkoff win and end a threegame losing skid.
Matthews walked and then scored when Kinlee East was able to reach on an error in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift KHS to a 3-2 victory over Okarche in the Highway 81 Classic.
The victory came after the Lady Jackets opened the tournament with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Alva.
That came on the heels of the team’s worst defeat of the season when it lost 17-5 Monday in a District 4A-1 contest at Elk City.
And that came just a few days after Clinton knocked off the Lady Jackets 6-3 in a district showdown.
The Lady Jackets led Okarche 2-0 after three innings before the Lady Warriors were able to tie it in the fourth.
Anna Shirey opened the inning with a single and after recording one out, KHS had two consecutive errors, the second of which allowed Erica Hammons, Shirey’s courtesy runner, to score.
Hannah Carnott, who reached on an error, later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.
Madison Nance kept the Lady Jackets scoreless in the fifth, but errors ultimately cost her team.
Nance threw 4 1/3 innings and didn’t surrender an earned run as Okarche had three miscues on the day.
She struck out three and walked two.
East also went without giving up an earned run while striking out seven Lady Warriors and walking three.
Okarche had two hits in the game.
Back-to-back errors by Okarche in the third inning led to Kingfisher’s Bella Gomez scoring.
East helped her own cause when she drove in Adlee Friesen with a single to make it 2-0.
That was one of just three hits for KHS.
The Lady Jackets only had one hit in their loss to Alva.
Jaycee Kelln struck out seven batters and didn’t give up a free pass to earn the five-inning victory.
East surrendered seven hits and struck out three. Though KHS committed four errors, all of Alva’s runs were earned.
Still, East held the Ladybugs scoreless until the fourth inning.
Kelln later added a tworun double.
East had Kingfisher’s lone hit.
The highlights were few in the loss to Elk City.
However, Adlee Friesen did hit her first career home run.
The freshman cracked a shot over the left field wall in the third inning. She had led off the game with a double and had two of Kingfisher’s four total hits.
The Lady Jackets struck out 11 times.
That loss put KHS at 2-5 in the district. The Lady Jackets return to district play Tuesday when they host Weatherford.
Meantime they continued play in the Highway 81 Classic over the weekend.