While the stakes were a bit different on Tuesday, the Guthrie Lady Jays softball program took some frustration out on a team that has ended their season two years in a row.
Head coach Booker Blakley begins his sixth season and is looking for a fourth state appearance in many years with a team that lost only one senior from a season ago.
The Jays opened the season at the Pryor Festival and picked up two wins over east-side schools, including a 5-2 win over Coweta and 11-0 over Claremore.
In 2021 and 2022 Coweta ended Guthrie’s seasons at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, including in last year’s semifinal game as the Tigers shut out the Jays 4-0.
In Pryor, Guthrie and Coweta were tied at 2-all going into the sixth inning. On one pitch the score was 5-2 thanks to a blast to left field from Brylan Shepard. Not a bad start for the Jays’ freshmen catcher.
Guthrie first got on the board in the third inning when junior Haley Gallo plated Katelyn Seiss with a sacrifice fly.
In the home half of the third inning, Coweta scored their only two runs of the game off of pitcher Kinley Duehning, who allowed four hits and two runs (one earned) over six innings, striking out six and walking one.
Saylor Hamilton provided two hits in the line-up, while freshman Savannah Ingle collected her first varsity hit.
Guthrie 11, Claremore 0
Softball fans were robbed most of last season with a season-ending injury to Gallo. In her freshman campaign, she popped 15 home runs but missed a good amount of her sophomore season.
Her junior season started on Tuesday, and she picked up where she left off.
In the shut-out win over the Zebras, Gallo hit two home runs, including a fifth-inning grand slam, while driving in six runs.
Gallo got all the scoring going in the first with a double. She was followed up by Kinley Duehning who singled in a run.
The scoring continued in the third inning when Ava Hebensperger doubled, Saylor Hamilton singled, and Brylan Shephard doubled. Along with the hits, Guthrie took advantage of a Claremore error.
Guthrie finished with 14 hits with three players (Duehning, Shepard, and Ryn McCormick collecting multiple hits).
McKenna Tucker earned the win in the circle by allowing zero runs on zero hits.
Ingle made her varsity debut in the circle and pitched three innings in relief. She allowed just one hit while striking out two.
Guthrie begins their home schedule on Thursday with two district games with Ardmore. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m.
Be the first to comment on "GHS Softball begins season with a revenge win over Coweta"