By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
Nailing down their spot.
Yukon has all but sealed third place in the District 6A-2 race after beating Putnam City West and sweeping a pair of games from Putnam City North at Yukon.
The Millerettes, 8-3 in district play, rolled to an 11-0 win over West in a make-up game on Wednesday and posted a 9-2, 12-1 sweep of North on Tuesday night. YHS (who hosted Edmond Santa Fe Thursday night) hosts district leader Southmoore Tuesday and winds up their district slate with Norman at home Sept. 30. Norman (who YHS beat 6-2 last week) is fourth in the district race and is the only team that could surpass the Millerettes for third.
The Millerettes scored three times in the bottom of the first to take control of the game with West. YHS scored all 11 runs in the first three innings.
Jaycee McKee and Kaylee Bradley teamed up to throw a no-hitter in the contest. McKee finished with four strikeouts and Bradley five.
“The girls did a better job today, they had good at bats, kept the ball on the ground and in play,” Millerette head coach Katy Hoke said. “We made them field the ball, hit several balls in the gaps. We did get several people in the game, so it was a good day.
“It was a good district win and three this week,” she said. “We have to go out and beat Norman, but the thing we have to do is play our game and no worry about the others. We have to show up each and every game and play up to the best of our ability. We do that and it will shake itself out.”
The Millerettes jumped on West pitching early, using a two-run scoring double from Gigi Vandelune to take the initial lead. Ashlyn Bruce and Makenna Johnson both singled before Vandelune’s double. Vandelune scored on a single by McKee for the 3-0 lead.
Vandelune and McKee added RBI’s in the second inning that opened a 7-0 lead. Hannah Hurtz had reached on an error and Kyia Cortez walked before Vandelune’s RBI hit. Two runners scored on passed balls and McKee’s RBI single capped the inning.
RBI hits from Cynthia DeLoera, Maddie Montgomery and Rayburn drove in four runs in the third and opened the 11-0 lead.
Vandelune went 2-for-2 with three runs batted in and McKee was 2-for-2 with two RBIs to lead the Millerette hitting attack.
“In all three games, we came in, got busy and took care of business,” Hoke said. “We took a little longer on the first game with Putnam North than I would have liked, but after that we dialed it in on the second game and put it away.
“I told the players lets do that both times next time,” she said. “I told the team we did a better job against West than we did the last time we played them. I told them the next couple of district games will be a different story.
“We will need to come in and be dialed in from the start.”
Against North, the Millerettes took control of the game in the third inning and were never really threatened after that. In the night cap, the Millerettes exploded for seven runs in the first inning and put the game away early.
Yukon scored all 12 of their runs in the first two inning in the nightcap and rattled North pitching for 13 hits. Hurtz, Rayburn, Johnson and Vandelune led the way with two hits each. Rayburn had three runs batted in and Hurtz two.
Rayburn hit the second of two home runs on the day in the bottom of the first inning to spot the Millerettes to a 3-0 lead. Hurtz had reached on an error and Bruce singled before Rayburn drove a pitch over the left field wall.
Hurtz, in her second trip to the plate in the inning, doubled home two runs and Jordan Schlarb’s RBI single opened the 7-0 lead.
Brooke Mathers’ two-run scoring single sparked a five-run second inning. Rayburn had singled and Johnson doubled before Mathers hit. Vandelune and Cortez also had RBI hits in the inning.
In the first game, the Millerettes took the lead on a Rayburn home run in the first inning, then pulled away for the 9-2 win.
Bruce had drawn a walk before Rayburn hit a deep fly ball that bounced off the top of the wall for the home run.
An RBI single by Kaylee Witte made it 3-1 in the second and Johnson’s RBI double in the third keyed a four-run innng that opened a 7-1 lead.
Johnson added an RBI single in the fourth inning and DeLoera singled home a run in the fifth.
“We are so close to having all three pieces come together,” Hoke said. “We would like to see that happen in regionals, but we need to start gelling into place now. We do that and we can play with anyone in the state.”
