By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
MOORE – It was billed as a showdown for the District 6A-2 title.
It never materialized.
Southmoore used a five-run second inning outburst and capped their night on Tatum Bradshaw’s grand slam home run in the bottom of the fourth to run past Yukon 11-0 Thursday night at Southmoore.
The Millerettes came into the game with an 11-2 district record, while Southmoore as 10-0. But, due to the Covid-19 rules, the district winner is to be determined by the number of wins. A YHS win would give the Millerettes 12 and would have sealed the title and a No. 1 seed for the regional pairings.
The loss dropped the Millerettes to 11-3 in the district (16-8) overall and will now have to play a waiting game to see if the team finishes second or third. Westmoore at 8-3 has Southmoore on Monday. The Lady Jags had games with PC West and PC North canceled and Tuesday is the final day to play district games unless the OSSAA decides to extend that deadline.
The Millerettes struggled on the night and had only two hits, while Southmoore (who now has beaten YHS three times) brought their “A” game, slugging a pair of home runs and scoring their runs in bunches.
“That was hard to watch, it just wasn’t our night,” Millerette head coach Katy Hoke said.
“Southmoore showed up with a lot of confidence, they brought their A game and hit the ball well. We had some hits they made some plays on.
“We didn’t hit the ball exceptionally well, but we had good contact and it didn’t fall our way,” she said. “They took advantage of our pitching. I told Kaylee (Bradley) we can’t expect her to be perfect every night, but she needs to shake it and we are going to need you to play for us the next two to three weeks and we will move on.”
Southmoore took control of the game in the second inning, erupting for five runs on RBI singles from Presley Main and Edwards and a pair of errors.
Brinley Maples’ solo home run in the third opened a 6-0 lead and a double Shae Shoguist made it 7-0.
Bradshaw’s grand slam home run in the seventh inning sealed the Millerettes fate.
The Millerettes’ best chance came in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two out. But, an offensive interference call and Kaylee Witte’s ground ball ended the inning.
“Southmoore seemed like a much different team than the last two times we played them,” Hoke said. “They came out and attacked the ball and made the plays.
“We have to sit the play a waiting game right now,” she said. “Southmoore and Westmoore play on Monday and the Putnam City Schools thing is up this weekend, so we don’t know if they will extend the district game dates or night. I guess we will find out next week, but right now it looks like we will finish second.”
The Millerettes collected their 11th win on Tuesday night with an 18-0 win over Putnam City West.
The game was never really a contest. YHS scored eight runs in the first inning and pushed five more across in the second.
Yukon had only 10 hits in the game but had eight walks and took advantage of three West errors. Jaycee McKee picked up the win on the mound, limiting West to only one hit and struck out eight.
AJ Rayburn’s bases clearing double in her second at-bat of the inning and two-run scoring singles from Ariah Mitchell and Taylor McMahon keyed the eight-run inning.
Marlee Warden’s RBI single, a passed ball and two West errors led to five runs in the second inning. RBI singles from Mitchell, Makayla Cowan and Warden highlighted a five-run third inning.
The Millerettes play today in the second day of the Chickasha Festival. Yukon will play Newcastle at 1 p.m. at the Chickasha Sports Complex, then moves over the Chickasha Middle School field to play Blanchard at 5:30 p.m.
Yukon goes back on the road Monday with a game at Washington in a 6:30 p.m. contest. The Millerettes will travel to Mustang Tuesday for the annual Bedlam on the Diamond contest at 6:30 p.m.
