Guthrie Softball headed back to the state tournament

The Guthrie Lady Jays softball program is headed back to the state tournament for their straight year.

The Jays hosted Noble and Ardmore in the three-team regional and walked away with a 3-0 record for the regional title.

On Thursday, Guthrie took down Ardmore 11-0 and followed that up with a narrow 2-1 over Noble. On Friday, Guthrie outscored Noble 10-4 to secure their state tournament spot.

Guthrie will enter State with a 26-7 record, including an 18-2 record against Class 5A schools.

Piedmont is the overall number-one seed and will play eight-seed Durant at 11 a.m. Thursday. The winner of that game will play the winner between four-seed Elgin and five-seed Pryor who plays at 6:30 p.m. The semifinal game is set for 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

The bottom half of the bracket will showcase Guthrie, the three-seed, taking on six-seed Tahlequah at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play the winner between two-seeded Carl Albert and seven-seeded Coweta who play at 4 p.m. The semifinal game is set for 12 p.m. on Friday.

The first two rounds will be played at Firelake Ball Park in Shawnee. The state championship game is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at OU Softball Stadium.

Guthrie, who has won nine of their last 10 games, is 2-2 against teams in the 5A state tournament with wins over Coweta and Elgin while sustaining losses to Piedmont and Elgin.

Head coach Booker Blakely challenged his team with a stout schedule, including 11 games against 6A opponents. The Jays won seven of those games, including a win over Deer Creek, who qualified for the 6A state tournament.