Panthers has successful start, prepares for BA tournament
Stigler Panthers fast-pitch softball opened the 2022 season at the Jay Festival on Aug. 8. Despite having 13 errors total the Panthers went 3-0 with a 10-5 win over Jay, 6-1 victory over Verdigris and a 9-8 win over Miami. The three opponents had a combined record of 70-26 in the 2021 season. Two played in a Class 4A regional championship and one team advanced to state. The Panthers will play in the Broken Arrow tournament on Aug. 12-13. Stigler will play four pool play games in the tournament and play a bracket game on Aug. 13.
Stigler opened with a 7-0 lead over Jay going into the middle of the third inning but would give up four runs in the bottom of the third inning. They would overcome the bad inning by holding Jay to just one more run and Stigler went on to score three to give the Panthers a 10-5 for their first win of the season. Stigler then faced Verdigris, a Class 4A state quarter-finalist in 2021. Stigler would win 6-1 over the Verdigris Cardinals.
In the last game of the day the Panthers faced Miami. After two innings Miami held a 5-2 lead but Stigler scored five in the top of the fourth inning to give the Panthers a 8-7 lead going into the fifth inning. Due to time restrictions the fifth inning would be the last inning played. Miami had runners on the corners (first and third base) with two outs down by one. Freshman Payton Mecom would catch a fly ball to left field to give the Panthers a 9-8 win.
Sophomore catcher Dally Engle went 2-4 in the Miami game with a two-run home-run, three runs batted in and three runs (Engle also hit a solo home-run against Verdigris). Batting in the eight hole was junior Madi Jones who went 5-7 on the day with four runs, two RBI, double and a walk.
“Those two hit the ball extremely well for us yesterday. On our team on any given day anybody can have a good hitting day which will help us in the future,” Stigler Fast-Pitch Head Coach Tyler Guthrie said.
Stigler will open the Broken Arrow Tournament with pool play games against Coweta, Lone Grove, Southmoore and Tahlequah Sequoyah Aug. 12-13. They will play one bracket game on Aug. 13. Stigler is familiar with Lone Grove as they are the team that defeated Stigler 8-1 in the Class 4A State Quarterfinals last season. Lone Grove went on to win the state championship.
“We are prepared for the rematch with Lone Grove. We will be hyped up and ready to face them. We just have to remember we have three other pool play games, that we have to play at a high intensity for all of them,” Guthrie said. Last season, Southmoore won the Class 6A Fast-Pitch State Championship, Coweta lost in the Class 5A State Championship and Tahlequah Sequoyah lost in a Class 3A regional championship.
Story and photo by John Block, Staff Reporter
In photo: Stigler softball between innings of their last home scrimmage on July 26 against Hilldale. From left, are Assistant Coach Taylor Simco, Hiahni Howard, Payton Mecom, Head Coach Tyler Guthrie, Madi Jones, Caitlin Lovett, Rilee Williams, Gentry Powell and Jordan Johnson.
A team photo is in the Aug. 11 issue of the paper. In print and online.