The Lady Cougars committed 11 errors but were able to keep the score close until the final inning of play.
Keys gained an early lead entering the game. Pitcher Elisha Stilwell hit an RBI double to bring Nicole Brown home for the team’s first run. Caylea Coles hit a home run in the next at bat to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
Brown wacked an RBI off a double to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead in the second inning. However, the team gave up three runs in the third inning.
The Cougars entered the bottom of the sixth inning with a 6-5 lead. The team delivered two outs before trailing 7-6 to the Wildcats.
Stilwell earns another RBI to tie the game 7-7 at the top of the seventh inning. However, an error allowed the Wildcats to win at the bottom of the inning.
“We came out swinging the bats well and put three on them at the top of the first, but at the end of the day we made 11 errors and lost by one in the bottom of the seventh inning,” said KHS softball head coach Nick Zodrow. “We just let them hang around. It’s the same thing that’s cost us all year, we didn’t play any defense.”
“We don’t make smart softball plays and it has cost us,” Zodrow added. “We swing the bat well at times and do good things offensively, we’ve pitched pretty well, but defensively we continue to make it difficult on ourselves.”
Stilwell led the Cougars with three hits and contributed two RBIs and a run in her five at bats. She also threw five strikeouts and gave up only three walks.
“She threw well enough for us to go win a game, but defensively we let her down,” said Zodrow. “We played well enough to score enough runs to win, we just have to make plays on the defensive side of it.”
The Cougars have made a tremendous come back from the beginning of the season. The team lost their first five games of the season but have climbed back to earn an 11-11 record. The players have been dominant at times but have struggled in other stretches of the season.
“When we’re good we’re really good, but when we’re bad we’re really bad,” said Zodrow. “Our record shows exactly the team we are.”
The Cougars play Saturday in their final game of the Sallisaw Central Tournament. The team won one of their three games ... Click here to read full article
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