CHASE CONTINUES: Lady Tigers rounding into form with season on horizon
· Yahoo Sports
This year’s journey to the hunt for the State Tournament is about to start again.
The Tahlequah Lady Tigers and coach Chris Ray are looking to head back to the softball state tournament for the ninth straight season. Practices are wrapping up, scrimmages are old news and the season is set to start at the Pryor Festival vs. a reigning State Champion in Carl Albert.
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Tahlequah’s Kallie Stopp throws the ball into the infield from left field.
“Practice has been fine; we accomplished what we want,” Ray said. “Pitchers are working their way into midseason pitching form. Our hitting isn’t where we want it yet; we aren’t striking out much, but we are a bit behind where we want to be, but that is OK; that happens early.”
With the season on the horizon, eyes go to the Lady Tigers pitching staff, which is expected to be the foundation of this team.
THS returns its top two starters in Zoie Griffin and Alix Kimble. The senior and sophomore were critical to the Lady Tigers’ run to the State Tournament a season ago.
That duo will headline the staff, but they aren’t the whole story for the Lady Tigers. Ray has one of the deepest pitching staffs he can remember, with underclassmen like Kylee Cloud, Holli Vick and Payton Phillips having earned some high-pressure scrimmage innings.
“They are feeding the defense and have gotten a lot of strikeouts,” Ray said. “When they do put the ball in play, we are solid behind them. Our pitching has been the most on point in the preseason, which rightfully so, since we have a deep pitching staff. I feel like that is the foundation that we are built on.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the Lady Tigers are progressing slowly but in the right direction, as expected.
Early in the scrimmage season, THS wasn’t getting the runs across the plate they were expecting. A higher fly ball rate in doubleheader play Monday, Aug. 3 vs. Moore and McLoud led to a focus on hitting line drives in practices.
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Tahlequah’s Raylee McCarter connects with a ball during the preseason game schedule.
The work paid off later in the week, Wednesday, Aug. 5, facing off with Bartlesville. In two games, the Lady Tigers combined for 10 runs in 10 innings.
“We just had way too many fly ball outs, but we were also passive at the plate,” Ray said. “We just had a lot of weak outs; our timing was off. It was considerably better in Bartlesville. Our average with runners in scoring position was really good. Our kids had a more aggressive mindset in the box.”
In addition to better hitting, the Lady Tigers also took some savvy risks.
“We were a lot more aggressive on the base paths; when we could take an extra 60 feet, we could,” Ray said. “If we could score a run an inning, we would be pretty good.”
Defensively, the Lady Tigers have made their important defensive progressions before opening day. Early practices focused on fielding bunts, run downs and keying in on general defensive situations.
Across the field are catcher Addie Davis, short stop Lilly Garcia, first base/outfielder Raylee McCarter and infielder Abby Reneau. Defensive battles have been playing out in the outfield throughout the summer, but early season games can still effect the starting lineup.
“I told the kids this week I still feel confident of the positions, but there are still some ongoing battles,” Ray said. “There are still a couple of open spots, as far as final decisions.”