Kia Holmes admits she wasn’t feeling it.
Indeed, with her team trailing 8-2 going to the seventh inning in the Class 4A slowpitch quarterfinals against Preston, she had reason to think this state tournament would go much like the other 12 the Lady Tigers have seen.
But No. 13 would see that luck change, starting with a seven-run rally, all with one out. From there, Oktaha would turn that 9-8 win into 5-3 win over Prague and finally, that elusive championship, a 11-10 win over Pocola.
“I really have to hand it to my assistant coach (Lynda Bacon),” Holmes said. “I was pretty disgusted with the way we were playing and before the seventh, she was the one who got back to the dugout and implored them not to quit. We got a few hits together and it was like, maybe this could happen, and it all changed for us.
“The cool thing about the state tournament in slowpitch is it is all in one day and when you get hot, sometimes it carries over, and it really amounted to that in that the quarterfinal and semifinal were played back to back and it felt like one game, because we just carried the momentum with us.”
Ava Scott had a three-run home run to get things started, Peyton Bryan a two-run home run and Kirsten Berry a two-run double to cap the rally in the opener.
Oktaha never once trailed Prague.
Two five-run innings did the trick against Pocola. Brynna Rodden’s single to right in the fifth gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good at 9-8 and helped them recover from a three-run home run that had them trailing 8-6 just one inning earlier.
Clutch defensive play and pitching strategy also played a part, leaving Pocola with the bases loaded in the sixth and two on in the seventh as Oktaha pitched around Pocola’s power punch.
Those two teams had played three times in the regular season, splitting the first two before the Lady Indians rolled in the third meeting, 11-0.
Pocola hit four home runs in the championship, Oktaha none.
“It kind of left a lot of coaches I talked to in disbelief,” said Holmes. “We played what I remember as old school slowpitch — hitting the ball to the right side, behind runners, and into the gaps.”
Oktaha has a slowpitch title to go with a fastpitch crown won by the legendary Darrell Wood, and actually bagged two slowpitch championships this year — the other being academic state champs behind the efforts of 15 girls with a 4.0 GPA.
Meanwhile, Holmes only loses two seniors — Brynn Surmont, who is headed for a fastpitch scholarship date with Murray State, and first-year pitcher Payton Stewart. A squad heavy on juniors and freshmen and deep all around will be led by Bryan, whose .549 batting average and 19 home runs led the team in both categories, finishing 29-8.
For Holmes, it’s just nice to get Oktaha over that hump after multiple near misses.
“People say the first one is the hardest,” she said. “It’s definitely been hard. I hope that means the next ones are easier.”
In the end, the Lady Tigers’ eyes were on the prize. Going forward, everyone will be keeping their eye on the Tigers.
