Weather interrupts Konawa tourney

Jeff Cali Sports Editor

Konawa — Inclement weather interrupted the Konawa Back 2 School Classic and Ada Lady Cougars Thursday night.

Ada trailed McLoud 3-1 with the Lady Redskins batting in the top of the fifth inning before lightning and rain forced Konawa tournament officials to bring things to a halt.

The Lady Cougars will resume their game at 12:50 p.m. today, then Konawa will play Holdenville at 1:05 to complete the first round of the tournament.

In other tournament games played Thursday, Ada blanked Stonewall 4-0; Konawa clipped Coalgate 6-5; Latta trumped Tecumseh 3-1 and Cleveland soared by Byng 9-1.

Second-round play will begin at 2:20 p.m. with Coalgate playing Tecumseh in an elimination game at 2:20, and Stonewall will face Byng in another loser’s bracket contest at 3:30 p.m. The loser of the Ada-McLoud game will meet the winner of Coalgate-Tecumseh at 4:45 in another elimination contest, then Latta will face the Ada-McLoud winner at 7:20 and Cleveland will meet the Konawa-Holdenville victor at 8:30 p.m. in a pair of winner’s bracket showdowns.

Saturday’s action begins at 9 a.m., and the championship game will be played at 2 p.m., with an if-necessary contest to follow at 3:30.

McLoud 3, Ada 1

(Postponed)

Ada scored its run in the bottom of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Destiny Smith started things off for the Lady Cougs with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Shelbey Franz and went to third on a base hit by Lindsey Elliott. Smith scurried home on a wild pitch to plate the first run of the game.

Ada 4, Stonewall 0

Smith was again the catalyst for Ada from her leadoff spot in the Ada batting order, finishing 2-for-3 while scoring twice.

In the bottom of the first she hit a sharp single to center, stole second and went to third on a base hit by Franz. She then scored on a passed ball to give Ada a 1-0 lead. Franz would later score on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the second, Lindsey Elliott ssingled and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jesse Wolf. WIth two outs, Smith ripped and RBI single up the middle and went all the way to third on the throw home (and Elliott was safe after a nice head-first slide). Franz notched her second hit of the game to push Ada’s final run across.

Stonewall’s defense tightened from there, holding Ada scoreless over the next three frames thanks in part to a pair of nice double plays — including a nice snag of a line drive off Elliott’s bat by shortstop Shelby Cranford, who then fired to first base to double off another Ada runner in the bottom of the fourth.

But the Lady Longhorns couldn’t manufacture any runs off Ada hurler Hanna Huling, who struck out nine and allowed just two hits — singles by Cranford and Whitney Bynum — in six innings.

Smith and Franz had four of Ada’s six hits in the game off SHS pitcher Neicole Thompson.

Konawa 6, Coalgate 5

New Coalgate head coach Tara Satterfield wished her team had a little more time against the Lady Tigers. The game was just five innings long thanks to the tournament time limit.

Coalgate scored three runs in the third to take an early 3-1 lead before Konawa answered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth and turned back a CHS rally in the fifth.

Haley Johnson led the Coalgate offense, going 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs while Laramie Beal also clubbed a double and drove in two runs for Coalgate.

Melanie Gladden, the winning pitcher, had two hits and a double for the Lady Tigers — who took advantage of five Coalgate miscues.

“We made too many mistakes, but I think we’re going to get better with time. We just need some experience,” said Konawa head coach Jennifer Matthews.

Latta 3, Tecumseh 1

Autumn Lawrence tossed a three-hitter, and Latta (1-0) rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth to advance in the winner’s bracket.

Lawrence struck out five and walked two, and she got all the run support she needed in the fifth, when the Lady Panthers bunched three of their five hits. Lashun Oakley started the rally with a single, and pinch runner Brooke Powell later scored on a single to right by Jackye Rosser. Caitlyn Hisaw plated Rosser later in the inning with a fielder’s choice grounder and scored on an RBI single by Tara MacCollister, who finished 2-for-3.

“We looked like we were knocking the rust off,” Latta coach Jim Foster said. “Early, we were swinging at bad pitches, and defensively we made four bad throws to first.”

Cleveland 9, Byng 1

Cleveland took advantage of two errors by the Byng defense followed by four walks from freshman pitcher Stormy Sayre to score six runs in the second inning, and the Lady Pirates managed just two hits in a rematch of the 2006 tournament final.

“Our freshman pitcher got her head down a little bit after we made those two errors in the second inning, and we never recovered,” Byng coach Blake Crawford said. “You can’t make two errors in one inning and expect to win. We try not to make two errors in a game, much less in an inning.”

The Lady Pirates (1-1) scored their only run in the top of the third, when Tiffany Owens, walked, stole second and scored on a double by Sydney Loggins.

Editor's Note: Sports Writer Bob Forrest contributed to this report.