Kennedy Allen stroked a two-run double in the sixth inning and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to lead Chandler to a 2-1 win over Stroud in the finals of the 66 Conference fastpitch tournament Saturday at Prague.
It was the third 66 tournament championship in the last four years for the Lady Lions and the 10th in 16 years under head coach Bryan Herring.
It didn’t come easily. The Lady Lions breezed past Seminole, 13-2, in the first round, played at Holdenville, but had three tight ones in a row, beating Stroud, 3-1; McLoud, 3-0, in the winners’ bracket finals Saturday at noon; and then coming back to clip the Lady Tigers, 2-1, in the championship game, which was interrupted for an hour and a half due to lightning delays.
Allen and Stroud pitcher Kamden Bray hooked up in a scoreless duel until Allen, a left-handed batter, stroked a liner into the gap in left-center to plate two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Stroud came back in the seventh, scoring one run and loading the bases with one out.
With a 3-1 count, Allen couldn’t afford to throw a ball, which would walk in the tying run.
“I told Kennedy, ‘You throw your best pitch,’ and she threw it for a strike,” Herring said.
“Kennedy is a seasoned enough pitcher and a good enough pitcher, she has a lot of input in what we call. And I love that.
“We strategize about who we’re throwing to and what we think they can hit and can’t hit, and we talk about it between innings.”
With the win, Chandler is 17-1 for the season and 6-0 in district, with consecutive district games coming against Kellyville, Morris, Sperry and Prague.
“We have a tough stretch in September, but we told them, ‘We had a great August, let’s have a great September and an October we’ll never forget.’” Herring said.
“They’ve worked their rear ends off. We can’t back off any of that.”
Stroud won four of six games in the tournament to move to 13-9 for the season.