By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
OKLAHOMA CITY – It’s been more than a decade since Putnam City North has beaten Yukon on the softball field.
The Millerettes found a way to continue that streak Thursday, but it took extra innings.
Yukon scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning and held off a PC North rally in the bottom half of the frame to pull out a 2-1 win Thursday afternoon at North.
The Millerettes, 11-13, swept all three Putnam City schools, including four wins this past week. YHS beat PC West 12-0 and 13-0 in district games on Wednesday after rolling to a 23-1 win over PCO on Monday.
The Millerettes had chances to score earlier in the game, but couldn’t get that key hit to drive in a run. YHS was also thrown out at the plate two times in the contest.
“That was a little tougher game than we expected, but at least we came out on top,” Millerette head coack Katy Hoke said. “I don’t know if we were tired or what, that was our fifth game in four days and the girls are needing a break. They have the weekend off to get the rest and hopefully they will come back rejuvenated on Monday against Deer Creek.
“We still to have our heads on base running,” she said. “It hurt us again and cost us a few runs. I told them they need to be more aggressive and they need to expect to be moving each pitch and not to be standing still when they are at that base. We hesistated too many times and it cost us some runs. We have to have that yes, yes mentality.
“We got a little shorthanded, we were missing four players, one injured and three others that went with the junior varsity, whose game got canceled. Plus we had one sick and then
Ariah (Mitchell) got hurt and I had subbed for a pinch runner. We didn’t have any courtesy runners left but we were able to find a way to get the win.”
The Millerettes had chances to score in the second and fourth innings, but left runners on third base each time.
In the eighth inning, the teams went to the international tiebreaker (where the batter that made the last out in the previous inning started at second).
With Trinity Little at second, Taryn Blazevich singled and Jaycee McKee hit into a fielder’s choice that saw Little thrown out at the plate. After a single by Maddie Montgomery that loaded the bases, Blazevich scored on a passed ball for the first run of the game.
Kinsleigh Thomas hit into a fielder’s choice that scored McKee to open a 2-0 lead.
Putnam North had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth when Jayde Johnson, who started on second, scored on a ground out by Emily Jordan. A two-out walk to Donajha Stubbs put the tying run on base, but the Millerettes got the next batter to ground out to end the game.
The Millerettes did have nine hits in the game, three by Montgomery, but left nine runners on base.
“We have some things we need to work on,” Hoke said. “But, we still have everything in front of us. We just need to put it all together by regionals.”
On Wednesday, Millerette pitching hurled back-to-back no-hitters and rolled to 13-0 and 15-0 wins over Putnam City North.
The second game, the Millerettes scored five times in each of the first three innings to post the 15-0 win.
Back-to-back two-run scoring doubles from Aubry Busby and Awbrey Dover keyed the five-run first inning. The fifth run scored on a passed ball.
Maddie Ogle’s two-run scoring single and Busby’s two-RBI double keyed the five-run second. Kalyn Shireman’s two-run scoring double highlighted the third inning.
In the opening game, the Millerettes scored five runs in the first two innings and rolled to a 13-0 win.
McKee led the Millerettes with three hits and four runs batted in. Thomas and Krysana Pellett had two hits each.
