SOFTBALL: Claremore splits with Jay, Sand Springs at BA Tournament

Claremore Daily Progress, Okla.
·2 min read

Aug. 12—Opening day was a mixed bag for Claremore softball.

The Lady Zebras opened the Broken Arrow Tournament on Friday with an early 8-2 win over Jay, but the back half of their doubleheader proved troublesome as they dropped a 9-2 decision to Sand Springs.

Claremore also played Deer Creek in a game that ended after press time. It returns to tournament action at 10 a.m. Saturday against Edmond North.

Claremore 8, Jay 2: Jazmine Cookson couldn't have asked for a better start to the season.

The junior beat the Lady Bulldogs with her arm and her bat, striking out four on 58 pitches while also crushing a grand slam and a two-run home run. She finished 2-for-3 at the plate with six RBIs and threw 58 pitches through five innings with a strike percentage of 75.9%.

Cookson surrendered two runs in the top of the first on a single and a sacrifice fly, but she quickly made up for it in the bottom half with a two-run homer over the center-field wall. Zoie McKellips scored on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch shortly thereafter, and it was all Claremore from there.

Cookson didn't wait long for her next blast.

Preceded by three-consecutive walks, she increased the lead to 7-2 in the second with a grand slam to center field. That would be the last run until McKellips singled in Halle Bucktrot in the fourth.

Those three — Cookson, McKellips and Bucktrot — accounted for all six Lady Zebra hits with two apiece.

Sand Springs 9, Claremore 2: It was a slow burn from the start.

The Lady Zebras fell behind 1-0 in the first but could never catch up as Sand Springs slowly but surely added to its lead throughout the seven-inning contest. Of their 27 at-bats, 20 resulted in either a pop out, a fly out, a ground out or a strikeout.

Makenzie McNamara and Grace Weaver both managed doubles, but neither led to any runs. In fact, Claremore didn't score until a line-drive 2-RBI single from Weaver in the sixth inning. By then, the Lady Sandites already led 9-0.

Despite the struggles, Weaver and Emily Rogers led the team with two hits apiece.

Cookson took the loss, striking out three while allowing five hits and four runs on 59 pitches through four innings. Toney Gibson pitched three innings of relief, surrendering five hits, five runs and a walk with no strikeouts on 46 pitches.