Michael Pineda
MARLOW — Softball has forged a group of athletes from the Southwest into one of the top youth teams in the state.
The Oklahoma Zappers, a 12U team, is set to begin pool play in the IFA National Tournament in Broken Arrow this week after finishing as the state runner-up in the “B” State Tournament in Ardmore. It has been a long journey for the team that has played 61 games this year. After a strong showing at state, it appears as if the team is peaking at the right time.
“We were in a valley before we went to state,” coach Kim Kizarr said. “I was wondering if they were burned out because we had played so much. We had a team meeting and talked about state. We really came together and played well.”
The team has been together since last fall when it played at Chickasha and in several tournaments. After taking time off for basketball, the team came back together in March and began preparing for a busy spring and summer.
The team has played the majority of its tournaments in the Oklahoma City area while seeing action in the 14U age group in league action at Hines Park.
“We were playing older girls that were bigger and stronger,” Kizarr said. “We played a lot of different positions during the league. We are preparing these girls for junior high and high school ball.”
The team is made up of girls from Marlow, Duncan, Empire, Central High, Lawton and Sterling. The team was the vision of Kizarr, whose daughter carpooled with some of the other players on the team to play competitively in Oklahoma City. Rather than continue to carpool, Kizarr felt that a collection of players from southwest Oklahoma could be competitive at the state level.
Over the course of the year, the team has come together, making strides in its on-the-field performance in addition to bonding as a team.
“We struggled catching fly balls,” Kizarr said. “Most of the team came up from 10U and that is the biggest jump in softball. We had our peaks and valleys but our confidence improved.
“We talked a lot about the team and I think that is a lot of what is missing in ball today. We have really grown as a team. They are out there picking each other up.”
The Zappers peaked in time to put together a strong run at the state tournament and it has carried over. The team finished league play at Hines Park on a strong note and has been putting in the time preparing for the tournament, scrimmaging against the Marlow J.V. this week.
“We kind of got a second wind,” Kizarr said. “I would definitely love to play like we played at state this week.”
Suiting up for the Zappers are Sara Hawkey, Kyleigh Turpin, Kaylee Jennings, Sierra Quinn, Kaytlyn Kizarr, Laurie Ann Derrico, Shelby Elroy, Berkley Faulkner, Gigi Wall, Tory Nations and Abbey Warren. The team is coached by Kizarr, Scott Wall and Bettie Wall.
