The Lady Savages are headed to the State Tournament today (Thursday) after hosting and winning their Regional Tournament last Thursday and Friday. Tecumseh will play today at 11:00am as they face a familiar rival, Harrah, in the opening round at Hall of Fame Stadium in OKC on Field 4.
Tecumseh went through the Regional Tournament 3-0, but it wasn’t easy, in fact, it was very close in the first two games against Marlow and Blanchard. The top seeded Lady Savages opened the Regional Tournament against Marlow and was the visitor on the scoreboard and had trouble getting their bats going.
In the top of the third, with two outs, Cadence Oliver drove in Emily Bingham who had singled to open the inning and gave the Lady Savages a 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fifth when Tecumseh pushed two more runs across.
After two straight singles by Vivian Hayes and Serenity Jacoway to open the fifth, the Lady Savages found some luck as Hayes scored on a passed ball by the catcher to give Tecumseh a 2-0 lead. Jessi Hull then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Jacoway to put the lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Marlow almost erased the Lady Savages lead with two-runs to shave the margin to 3-2 for Tecumseh. In the top of the seventh, Tecumseh added an insurance run when Bingham started a small rally. With two outs, Bingham cracked a single and then advanced to second on a Marlow error. Katie Overstreet Marlow error. Katie Overstreet then singled to send Bingham home and the Lady Savages led 4-2.
Jacoway shut down Marlow from the circle in the bottom of the seventh to send Tecumseh to the Regional Semifinals. Jacoway pitched seven-innings and allowed tworuns on just three-hits while striking out five and walking four. Jacoway was also 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Tecumseh outhit Marlow 11-3 in the game but had trouble stringing hits together most of the contest. Hull, Overstreet, and Hull each picked up an RBI in the win. Bingham was -for- at the plate and scored two-runs for the Lady Savages. Overstreet was 2-for-3, along with Bristin Hayes. Vivian Hayes was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
If you think the opening game was tight, it was nothing compared to the semifinal game against Blanchard. This game was a white knuckler until the very end of the game when the Lady Savages got a walk-off 1-0 win in the bottom of the seventh.
It was a classic pitcher’s duel with Jacoway besting the Blanchard gunslinger, Jayden Hefley, to gain the win. Jacoway again went the complete game as she fanned nine hitters and only walked one in the five-hit shutout. Hefley allowed the one-run on five-hits and struck out seven and walked four.
Games are always exciting, and a little terrifying, when they come down to the last out and this game was all of that. The bottom of the seventh started with Sami Schweighardt working her way to a walk. Zariyah Masquas took Schweighardt’s place on the base pads and ended up scoring the winning run.
Masquas had moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Oliver and then moved to third on a ground out by Vivian Hayes. With two-outs, stilled tied 0-0, Bristin Hayes hit a line drive to left center and sent Masquas home with the winning run in the incredible game.
The Lady Savage hit makers in the win were Jacoway, Bristin Hayes, Bingham, Fleming, and Overstreet with Bristin Hayes getting the game winning RBI.
The Lady Savages had to wait until the second game the next day as they met the winner of the Blanchard/Elk City elimination game early Friday morning for the title. This one was another close one early before Tecumseh got the bats going in late innings. Tecumseh outhit Blanchard in the Championship game 12-7 and each team had an error each.
The Lady Savages got two-runs in the top of the third-inning and then added three in the top of the sixth and seventh to lead 8-0 headed to the bottom of the seventh. Blanchard made it interesting in the bottom of the last inning with a double, three singles, a Tecumseh error, and a walk to score three-runs before Jacoway finished them off as Lady Savage second baseman, Lauren Taylor, scooped a ground ball and threw the runner out at first to end the game as the Regional Championship celebration began.
The Lady Savage bats came alive late in the game with Bingham, Bristin Hayes and Jessi Hull slugged doubles. Fleming hit two doubles in the win. Bristin Hayes, Hull, Bingham, Fleming, and Vivian Hayes each had an RBI in the win. Bristin Hayes was 2-for-4 and scored two-runs to lead the Lady Savages offensively.
Jacoway had two RBI’s in the game while going 1-for-4. She also pitched her third complete game of the tournament and allowed seven-hits and three-runs, only two earned, while striking out six and walking one.
With a win over Harrah in the quarterfinals of the State Tournament today, the Lady Savages would move to the semifinals tomorrow (Friday) to face the winner of the Tuttle/Bristow game, also at 11:00am on Field 4. The 4A State Championship game is scheduled for noon on Saturday on Field 1-the big field.
