Have Lady Tigers finally shown they can play with the big schools? Guymon softball team shows they can beat 4A and 5A schools at Jones-McGuinness Tournament

September 9, 2012

With only a few softball games remaining this season, the Lady Tigers now appear to have settled down and show that they are capable of playing with the big girls.
By big girls, we mean Class 4A and 5A schools in the Oklahoma City area.
The Lady Tigers have struggled this season, their last in Class 4A before moving up to 5A. There are just two seniors on the squad. They are Monica Padilla who is starter at third base, and Ashlyn Wadley, who has seen little playing time in her final high school season due to an injury. College programs began looking at Wadley after her junior year.
Freshmen and sophomores make up much of the Guymon varsity team, with a few juniors.
Most of the players are 14 and 15 years old and lack the experience of 16-to-18-year-old players they often play against.
Macy Pritchard and Shay Henry are just over a year out of the Kids Inc., Girls’ Senior Softball program. The freshmen have earned starting spots on the Lady Tiger varsity.
Pritchard is the usual starting pitcher and pitched the distance in all four games at the Jones-McGuiness Tournament over the weekend. The 14-year-old struck out 11 batters during a recent outing against Hooker.
Henry, who also pitches and plays in the outfield, is a leading hitter on the team. She had a double that led to a win over El Reno on Saturday.
The infield is solid with sophomores Kennedy Melton and Lakin Winters and senior Monica Padilla at second, shortstop and third base. Sophomore Jahaira Marquez has done a good job at first base with Wadley unable to play. The four players have given Guymon a good infield and solid hitting.
The tournament
Des-criptions including “awesome” and “phenomenal” posted on the team’s Facebook page described the Guymon performance at the Jones-McGuiness Tournament played at Jones and Bishop McGuiness high schools Friday and Saturday.
Each participating team played four games.
The Lady Tigers took Class 5A El Reno into an extra inning winning 4-3.
Henry hit a double to the fence scoring Graciela Guiterrez. Then Winters hit a line drive over the third baseman’s head that scored Henry.
“It shows that we we’re as good as anybody who was there. If we show up to play, we win,” said head coach Wesley Bryson.
“Macy pitched a heck of a game. She pitched well and defense backed her up well,” he said.
The Lady Tigers also beat Class 4A Star Spencer 16-0. Losses were 12-0 to St. Mary’s and 83 to Oklahoma Christian.
Bryson has been saying throughout this season that the girls have got to be mentally prepared to play.
“We’re just real proud of them for getting the mental game,” he said after returning from the tournament.
Coming up
The Lady Tigers play varsity games at Beaver today with Laverne at 5:15 p.m. and Beaver at 6:30 p.m.
Texhoma visits Guymon tomorrow beginning at 4:30 p.m., for a pair of varsity contests and one junior high game. The Lady Devils took a doubleheader from Guymon at Texhoma on Aug. 23. The Lady Tigers have an opportunity to take back those losses.
Seniors will be honored at the final home game against Goodwell on Sept. 17, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
The final two regular season games will be at Lamar, Colo. on Sept. 18 and Woodward on Sept. 24.