ARCOLA- Rain drops and defensive excellence highlighted the morning on Saturday during the Deer Creek Lady Warriors softball tournament. Four teams competed in a pool play format with the top two teams vying for the championship.
Deer Creek would take home the championship trophy, defeating St. Joseph Catholic School 18-1 in the championship game.
The first game of the day was an old fashion pitchers’ duel with the host Deer Creek Lady Warriors holding off the St. Joe Lady Irish 2-0. Lady Warriors pitcher Josie Azlin hurled four shoutout innings giving up four hits and striking out six Lady Irish batters. St. Joe pitcher Emma Kate Threat also pitched four innings, giving up a run in the second inning and a run in the third.
Each team had opportunities to score throughout the game but both infield defenses negated the rallies.
“Defense and pitching were pretty good,” said Deer Creek head coach Rob Ballinger. “Our offense needs to improve. We swung at some bad pitches. But I think we’ll be fine because we play schools on bigger divisions throughout the year.”
“If we keep improving, we’ll be playing Deer Creek softball in no time,” he added.
Between games coaches and school staff scrambled to make the infield dry enough for playing by raking dry dirt to the surface.
“It’s tough on the girls when the ball gets wet,” Ballinger said. “But both teams play in the same conditions.”
Three Lady Irish players, Lorie Anne Hughes, Ashante Brown and Cha Holmes each recorded a single at the plate. Arlin led the Lady Warriors with a single, a double an RBI and a run scored.
