Chandler’s Lady Lions won the first two games of the state tournament in their last at-bat, but their comeback against Washington fell short in Saturday’s finals.
Number 1-seeded Washington ended up with its 10th fastpitch state championship, beating the secondranked Lady Lions, 9-3.
It was a remarkable season for Chandler, which finished 32-4 and made a repeat trip to the state tournament.
The finals Washington 9, Chandler 3
The Lady Lions scored first, when lead-off batter Madison Cagle bunted to get on base and later scored on an error.
Washington tied it up in the bottom of the first and scored in every inning to go up, 8-1, in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, Ruthie Capps reached base on an error and took second on a bad throw. Pinchrunner Hope Crews scored when Rylee Capps hit a hard grounder that handcuffed the second baseman.
The Lady Lions got their final run in the top of the seventhwhenCaglereachedbaseandeventuallyscored on a bases-loaded walk to Blaklei Smith.
Chandler finished with four hits and four walks for the day. Cagle had two singles and Elli Hilgenfeld and Brenlee Corea had one apiece.
Kennedy Allen went the distance in the circle, allowing nine hits and four earned runs.
“My kids are fighters. They fought and they fought and they fought,” said Chandler coach Bryan Herring. “Even there at the end, we had the bases loaded and they’re still cheering and getting ready to roll.
“There’s no quit in them and that will carry them a long way in life. That’s something they learned in this program. They learned to fight and to scrap.”
The semifinals Chandler 3, Kiefer 2
Gentry Garner stroked a two-single past the Kiefer second baseman to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
It was the third time in the game that Garner had driven in Smith, accounting for all three Chandler runs.
“To be honest, I was very nervous. Very nervous,” Garner said. “I was just thinking ‘hit the ball and don’t pop it up. Hit the ball fair, in play, and score the runner.’” And that’s exactly what she did, taking a 2-1 pitch to right field, just over the out-stretched glove of the second baseman.
“She’s the best nine-hole hitter in the state,” Herring said.
Garner drove Smith home for the first time with a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Kiefer tied the score in the fifth, but Smith and Garner hooked up again in the bottom of the sixth. Smith singled to center and Garner cracked a double to bring her home.
Kiefer tied it yet again in the top of the seventh, setting the scene for Garner’s game-winner.
It was the third meeting of the season between the district rivals, with Chandler winning the first two by similar slim marks, 2-0 and 1-0.
“I think the three games we’ve played with Kiefer have all aged me,” Herring said. “I have gray hair in my beard and gray hairs on my head from Kiefer.
“That’s a great program. Coach Fairchild does a great job. He’s been around the state of Oklahoma and been very successful.
“We did not play our best game defensively. We left a lot of runs on the table and made mistakes that we typically don’t. “
Smith had three hits and three runs scored for Chandler. Cagle had a pair of singles, Corea had a double, Rylee Capps had two singles and Garner had a double, a single and those all-important three runs knocked in.
Kennedy Allen went the distance in the circle, surrendering four hits while striking out 10.
The quarterfinals Chandler 10, Sequoyah 5
The Lady Lions were down to their last at-bat, trailing 5-3, but erupted for seven runs to dispatch Sequoyah-Tahlequah.
Chandler had led 2-0 in the first and 3-2 in the fifth, but the Lady Indians kept chipping away and took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
That’s when Chandler’s bats erupted. Big blows in the inning were a double by Ruthie Capps to drive in Cagle and make it, 5-4.
Smith singled to score pinch-runner Crews and tie the game, then Hilgenfeld drilled a single to score pinch-runner Georgia Hulsey and Halle Herrmann.
Garner foreshadowed her Game 2 heroics by doubling to drive home Smith, making it 8-5.
Hilgenfeld scored on an error and Corea ended the scoring by singling to drive home Garner.
“Honestly, I was waiting for our athleticism to take over, really,” Herring said. “Our 1,2,3,4,5 hitters - they are all amazing hitters. They’re good at what they do on offense.
“We came out in the top of the seventh and that’s who we had - 1,2,3,4,5. So, I thought ‘it’s a perfect storm.’” Allen went the distance in the circle, giving up seven hits and striking out 12, while allowing only four earned runs.
“As the innings pile up and pitch numbers go up, she gets better,” Herring said. “She’s stronger. In the bottom of the seventh when she went out there with that look in her eye, I knew it was over.”
Smith and Garner were the Lady Lions’top producers at the plate over the three games.
Smith batted a robust ..556, going 5-for-9 and scoring four runs.
Garner swung at a .400 pace with four RBI.