After a dominant run to the finals of the Mia Tapia Invitational Tournament, the Pauls Valley Lady Panthers finished as tournament runner-up, coming up short against Kingfisher in Saturday's championship finale.
The Lady Panthers punched their ticket to Saturday's winner's bracket by blowing past Western Heights, 11-0, and defeating Marlow, 5-3, on Friday.
Against Western Heights, Daylee O'Bryant paced the offense with a 3-for-3 performance, scoring two runs and driving in three. Kaisyn White went 2-for-2 with a triple, while Mallory Carter launched her first home run of the season. Jessie Caldwell picked up the win in the circle, allowing no runs on just two hits while striking out two.
Facing Marlow, Carter stayed hot with a 2-for-2 outing with two runs and an RBI. Owen and Avri Crouch each added hits to round out the offense. Lily Rowland earned the win, giving up three runs on five hits with one strikeout, while Raegan Close closed the door by striking out the side in the final inning.
On Saturday, Pauls Valley kept its momentum going with a 6-5 thriller over Kingfisher. The Lady Panthers jumped out early with five runs in the bottom of the first before Kingfisher rallied to tie the game at 5-5 in the third. With two outs in the bottom half, a single by Owen and a walk to Carter set the stage for Close, who delivered a clutch RBI single to right for the lead. Close then finished off the complete game in the bottom frame, inducing two flyouts and a groundout after a lead-off single.
Owen and O'Bryant led the way with two hits each—including a double apiece—while Close notched four strikeouts to bring her early-season total to 18.
Kingfisher bounced back in the second matchup of the day, forcing a winner-take-all finale with a 14-2 victory. Pauls Valley managed just three hits in the loss, coming from the top three in the lineup: Owen, Carter, and Close. Close’s double provided the lone offense, scoring both Owen and Carter.
In the deciding third matchup between the two teams, Kingfisher took an early 4-0 lead. White cut into the deficit with one swing of the bat, driving her first home run of the season over the wall in the top of the second. PV pulled within 4-2 when Carter doubled and scored on another Close single, but that was as close as the Lady Panthers would get in the 5-2 title loss. White’s solo shot highlighted a 4-hit effort for PV, with Carter and Butler adding doubles.
Pauls Valley hosts three of the top teams in District 4A-2 this week: Cache on Monday, Blanchard on Tuesday, and Mount St. Mary on Thursday, all three games have a 5 p.m. first pitch.
