Tuttle, OK — TUTTLE — The object of the game is to keep the other team from scoring, but this is starting to get ridiculous.

The Comanche softball team posted its third consecutive shutout of the season in a 4-0 win over Duncan on the first, and perhaps final, day of play in the Chisholm Trail Classic. Shayna Milam picked up her second win in a row, giving up four hits in six innings of work. Milam struck out six and walked one.

In other action in the rain-shortened tournament, Marlow opened with a 4-3 win over Lindsay before falling to Blanchard 6-0. Bray-Doyle improved to 4-0 with wins over Purcell and Chickasha, and Velma-Alma knocked off Western Heights 2-0.



Comanche 4, Duncan 0

Sooner or later, someone is going to score on the Lady Indians. But they are going to keep the streak running as long as they can.

Comanche put another notch on the shutout belt in a 4-0 win over Duncan. The win, coming against the Class 5A state semifinalist from a year ago, gave the Lady Indians a surge of confidence one week into the season.

“This bunch is steadily gaining confidence,” Comanche coach Bill Berry said. “From what they did last year, they have turned it around. They are learning to do the little things that will make them better.”

The loss dropped Duncan to 0-2 in the first week of play. The Lady Demons dropped a 6-2 decision to Cache on Tuesday, a loss that left head coach Robert Cowan more disappointed than the loss to Comanche.

“I wasn’t upset,” Cowan said. “Those were earned runs they scored. Against Cache, we beat ourselves, Comanche beat us. They had timely hits and we didn’t. Both pitchers that we have faced are two of the best that we are going to see this year. They both throw hard.

“Anytime you lose you are going to be disappointed, but today it wasn’t the effort that beat us. We have plenty of softball left to play.”

Comanche wasted little time in jumping out on the Lady Demons and taking an early lead. Milam led off the bottom of the first with a single, and Mica Allen followed up by reaching base on an error. With one out, freshman Jacobi Clark laid into a Judy Dines offering and sent it into the gap for a triple, scoring two runs. An RBI single by Cassie Sanders accounted for all three runs in the inning.

The Lady Indians posted one more on the scoreboard in the third inning, with Clark once again serving as the catalyst. She reached on a double with one out and scored on a Tanya Whaley single.

Comanche threatened to add more runs on the board in the fourth when Jaci Decker and Kenzie Reed reached second and third with no outs, but MacKenzie Gibbs made two plays on the ball from shallow short to keep the runners honest, helping Dines work out of the jam.

Offensively, Milam gave the Duncan batters little relief in the first three innings, holding them hitless. A walk by Allison Edwards in the first inning was the only base runner for the Lady Demons until the fourth inning.

In that inning, Sarah Harper got to Milam with a single and, with two outs in the inning, Gibbs singled to move Harper to third, only to have a strikeout end the inning.

Kinzie Kennedy singled with two outs in the fifth and moved into scoring position on a steal, only to be stranded and, in the sixth, Harper singled to wrap up all Duncan hitting on the evening.

“We jumped on them early and made it hold up,” Berry said. “This team is going to be pretty good as the season goes along. They are having fun.”



Marlow 4, Lindsay 3

TUTTLE — The Marlow softball team continued to search for an identity Thursday afternoon as it split its two games on the first day of play in the Chisholm Trail Classic.

In their first game of the day, the Lady Outlaws rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the fifth and then scored the go-ahead run to clinch the victory in the sixth inning. Summer Foster singled to lead off the inning and Tasha Dodd hit a double to score the game-winning run.

Sydney Shannon, Kailee Roe and Taylor Leippe each went 2-3 in the game for the Lady Outlaws while Hayley Harris picked up the win in the start. Harris struck out three and walked three in the complete-game effort.



Blanchard 7, Marlow 0

In its second game of the day, Blanchard brought the lumber and pounded the Lady Outlaws into submission. Blanchard jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back in a 7-0 win. Marlow finished the game with managed four hits in the game and advanced only two runners into scoring position. Seven of the first nine outs for Marlow came up pop-ups.

“We’re just not swinging the bats very well,” Marlow head coach Brian Miller said. “It’s early in the season, so it won’t make a lot of difference right now. ’Til we get a set lineup, we’re going to have to see what some people can do and people have to come to play at the beginning of the season like they do at the end.”

Roe took the start for Marlow and gave up the five runs in the first inning, giving up three doubles in the process. She settled down and limited the damage in the remainder of the game, giving up eight hits while striking out one and walking five.

Leippe and Shannon each had doubles to lead Marlow as it fell to 1-2 on the season.



Velma-Alma 2, Western Heights 0

TUTTLE — The weather did Velma-Alma little favor but in the end it did not matter as the Lady Comets were awarded a 2-0 win over Western Heights in a game called because of lightning. Velma-Alma had added one run in the sixth but it was taken off the board after the Lady Jets were unable to finish their half of the inning.

Kyla Sutton picked up the win, throwing five innings of one-hit ball, striking out eight and walking two. The Lady Comets had only two hits on the night but made the most of their opportunities as they improved to 3-0 on the year.

“We didn’t hit the ball well as well as we can but we used our short game and pitched the ball well,” Velma-Alma coach Jimmy Miller said.

Micah Thompson and Taylor Alexander each crossed the plate for the Lady Comets.



Bray-Doyle 6, Purcell 2

NORMAN — The Lady Donkeys scored all six runs in the sixth inning, recording six hits, four of which were doubles.

Shayla Bingham started B-D with a double and, after a Whitney Mayes walk, freshman Brandi Connelly, who was 2-for-3, and Kendra Balthrop each doubled. Shelbi Copeland, who was also 2-for-3, and Shannon Perry kept the hit parade going with back-to-back singles. Drown doubled to make it 6-0, before Purcell got a run back in the bottom of the frame.

The Lady Dragons scored their last run in the bottom of the sixth.

Bray-Doyle had runners in scoring position in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings, but couldn’t get a timely hit.

Brown struck out four over six innings for her second win of the season. Both runs that Purcell scored were unearned.

B-D head coach Joe Knapp continued to be impressed with Connelly.

“She is just a freshman and is doing real, real well,” Knapp said.



Bray-Doyle 2, Chickasha 1

NORMAN — The Lady Donkeys got the winning run in the international tie-breaker when Heather Stinnett scored on a double by Bingham.

Brown scored Bray-Doyle’s first run in the third on a single by Connelly.

Brown got the win, striking out 10 over seven innings. However, she did allow her first earned run of the season in the first inning. She allowed just two hits in the game, and both of those were in the first inning.

“We beat two pretty good teams,” Knapp said. “We’ve seen a lot of good teams in the early part of the season and those were two of the best. We’re playing pretty decent right now.”



Wilson 12, Empire 1

Offensive troubles and late-inning mental lapses cost Empire for the second consecutive game as it fell to Wilson 12-1. The Lady Eagles scored six runs late to blow open the game and drop the Lady Bulldogs to 0-2 on the season.

“We were down 6-1 going into the fifth and had a fall-apart inning,” Empire coach Rickey Rhoades said. “We had errors at the wrong time. We are having problems with the little things. It will take time to knock the rust off.”

Micah McClain scored the lone Empire run in the game.