The Tuttle Times

Sports

October 14, 2009

Lady Tigers advance to semifinals

Chuck Larsen

OKALHOMA CITY – Tuttle scored four runs in the top of the thirteenth inning Monday to beat Fort Gibson 5-1 and advance to the semifinals of the 4A State Championship Fastpitch Tournament.

Last year’s state finalists met up in Round One this year and the east-side Tigers were anxious to avenge last year’s 8-7 championship game loss and keep Tuttle from “three-peating.”

The three-hour-plus marathon moved along pretty quickly, although probably not quickly enough for Piedmont and Sequoyah Claremore, who were scheduled for the next game, and the large crowd that sat through it in a steady mist and on and off light drizzle. They were rewarded with a great pitchers’ duel and a pretty intense game.

Tuttle sophomore Caitlyn Sill and Fort Gibson senior Taylor Mills were all over the offenses until Mills stumbled in the thirteenth, allowing Tuttle to finally break the game open.

It was scoreless through the first six innings. Sill struck out eight, allowed two singles and one batter reached on an error. Mills fanned 10 and gave up two singles and a double to the fence by first baseman Sevie Carel. Two Tuttle hitters reached on errors, but Mills also plunked Carel twice and walked two more. But each time, both hurlers bore down and pitched their way out of the jams.

Mills, however, walked left fielder Tayler Walker and right fielder Tori Williams to start the seventh. Center fielder Kaylee Bunson moved them over with a sacrifice bunt then second baseman Tiffany Roberts squeezed Walker in to break the ice.

But right fielder Ashley Nevitt led off the home half with a double into the right-center field gap and catcher Bailey Gauntt singled her in to force the extra innings.

Again the pitchers took control of the game and held each other’s offenses off. Tuttle left runners on second and third in the eighth and one on third in both the eleventh and twelfth innings, and Fort Gibson left a runner on third in the eighth, runners on first and second in the tenth and one on second in the eleventh, keeping fans on an emotional roller-coaster ride as neither one could finish the other off.

But, with one out in the top of the thirteenth, Mills hit Sill on the foot and courtesy runner Kayla Gripe immediately stole second. Lacey Stonebraker beat out a well placed bunt to put runners on the corners and then quickly stole second to set the table for Walker, who laid down a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to score Gripe. Stonebraker stopped at third, but Walker alertly took second on the play at the plate to keep the pressure on.

That’s when Mills cracked, throwing two wild pitches to score Stonebraker and Walker as Brunson worked a walk. A third wild pitch moved her to second and she scored the fourth run when Roberts’ slap bunt went off third baseman Sarah Steele’s glove and dribbled to the fence.

That was all Sill needed as she got the side in order in Fort Gibson’s last lick for the big win. The sophomore gave up a run on seven hits, struck out 13 and walked one.

"We left too many on base and didn’t get enough hits," Tuttle coach Jerry Bates said. "It’s a good thing we can bunt.

“Caitlyn (Sill) threw really well. She gave up a couple of hits but fought her way through them. It wasn’t too bad a performance on her part.”

Tuttle will play Sequoyah-Claremore, who beat Piedmont 4-2 on Amy Harrison’s three-run walk-off home run, in one semifinal. Unranked upstart Hilldale, who upset Catoosa 2-1, and Blanchard, who got by Little Axe 1-0, will play in the other.

Wet weather postponed the action again. It is scheduled to be completed on Thursday and Friday.

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