Muldrow Softball Behind Kelsi Qualls’ no-hit performance inside the circle, Muldrow’s high school softball (fast-pitch) team advanced to its first state tournament on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over
Muldrow Softball
Behind Kelsi Qualls’ no-hit performance inside the circle, Muldrow’s high school softball (fast-pitch) team advanced to its first state tournament on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Miami in the Class 4A Regional 5 Tournament title game on Lady Bulldog Field.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 21-12 for the season with the win and will take on Newcastle (28-6) at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the single-elimination, three-day state tournament, which will be held at the Ballfields at Firelake, located at 18160 Ridgeline in Shawnee.
In other first-round state tournament games Skiatook (21-10) plays Purcell (26-3) at 11 a.m., Hilldale (29-4) and Tecumseh meet at 1:30 p.m. and Oologah-Talala takes on Lone Grove at 6:30 p.m.
First and second-round 4A state tournament games will be played on Field 2 and the title game will be played on Field 4 at noon on Saturday.
Saturday’s regional title contest started on Thursday but was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning because of an approaching thunderstorm and lightning in the area. Muldrow led 2-0 before play was halted.
In the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday, Chelsi Possage doubled to left center field with one out before scoring Muldrow’s third run of the game after Miami committed an error on Darbi McAfee’s infield grounder.
In the final three innings Qualls struck out four and did not allow a hit.
“We started the season off pretty slow,” Muldrow head coach Mike Possage said after the game. “I ran them through a gauntlet up there at Broken Arrow (tournament). I took them up there to see some of the toughest competition in the state and I think it really helped us out. We came back and got on a roll and I think we won 12 in a row there.
“Of course winning this district put us in a really good spot here to host a regional and we came through. All three games we swung it pretty well, Kelsi (Qualls) was awesome in the circle and stellar as always and our defense was really, really, really good throughout the entire tournament.
“I’m super excited and blessed to be able to be the first ones to make a state tournament here in fastpitch.”
Before the weather delay in the bottom of the fourth inning, Muldrow took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first frame. With one out, Chelsi Possage went to second on an outfield error before another error on Darbi McAfee’s fly ball to right field allowed Possage to score the first run. On the play, McAfee advanced to second on the throw home and one out later she recorded the second run on Alexi Lane’s RBI single to right field. Lindsey Prewitt’s base hit and Ashlynn Flute’s walk loaded the bases before Carmen Field’s line drive was caught by shortstop Beca Hopping to end the inning.
In the Muldrow second Lani Israel walked and Destiny Tune singled to right field. Two outs later a pitch hit Kelsi Qualls to load the bases but an infield flyout ended the at-bat.
Possage singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth but one out later lightning in the area halted the game with Qualls at the plate.
In her four innings of work inside the circle, Qualls did not allow a hit while striking out three Miami hitters and walking one.
Muldrow’s two seniors, Lindsey Prewitt and Darbi McAfee, were pleased with their team’s performance in the regional tournament and excited about this week’s state tournament.
“I feel like we came out and we had the intensity up,” said Prewitt, Muldrow’s first baseman. “First time Muldrow has ever gone to state so it was nerve-wracking with that but I feel like we came out and we handled business well.”
“We came out really strong,” remarked McAfee, the Lady Bulldogs’ third baseman. “We knew that there were going to be competitive teams in here and we knew that we were going to have to swing it and put something together.”
Muldrow started the season 3-9 before registering 12 consecutive victories, and the Lady Bulldogs take a five-game winning streak to Shawnee on Thursday.
“I feel like we came together as a team,” Prewitt said. “Coach always talks to us about just being together and being there for each other and I feel like this year we finally figured it out and actually came together and worked as one team.”
Muldrow is only the second county team to qualify for a softball (fast-pitch) state tournament (Vian qualified in 2014).
