Roland fought back from an early loss and advanced to state through the losers' bracket on Wednesday at the Class 5A slowpitch softball regional hosted by Okemah.
A 12-0 win over No. 6-ranked Haskell sealed the consolation title for the Lady Rangers and sent them back to state for the first time since the 2000 season, when they fell to Lindsay in the first round.
Head coach Crystal Looper was pleased with the fighting spirit her team displayed while bouncing back from a close 3-2 loss to third-ranked Okemah in the first round. The Lady Rangers topped 15th-ranked Sequoyah-Tahlequah 14-3 before ousting Haskell in the final game of the day.
"Those two games after the loss were probably the best two games we played all year, especially the last one," said Looper. "The girls turned it up a notch and decided that they wanted to play next week."
The Lady Rangers got off to a quick start against Haskell as Jordan Cosner, Casey Wilson, Maggie Kolp and Stephanie Richards each got on base and scored runs for a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Wilson drove in Kye Quickel to make it 5-0 in the second before Dara Tyler, Richards and Linzie Roberts added runs in the third inning to extend the lead to 8-0.
Quickel, Cosner and Kolp and Tyler each scored in the top of the fourth and the Lady Ranger defense kept Haskell off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning to clinch the run-rule victory.
Roland did not allow a Haskell batter to get on base after the second inning while notching the shutout. Looper credited pitcher Roberts for a good effort in windy conditions.
"Linzie Roberts did an excellent job pitching. The wind was blowing back at her, but she handled it better than any of the other pitchers out there," said Looper.
In the win over Sequoyah, Roland blew the game open with four runs in the first inning as the first four batters in the line-up-Cosner, Wilson, Kolp and Tyler-all reached base and scored.
Six more runs in the third inning stretched the Lady Ranger lead to 10-0. Wilson led off with a base on balls and eventually scored. She was followed across home plate by teammates Tyler, Roberts, Kerrye Lawson, Heather Barnes and Jessica Flurry during the inning.
Sequoyah pulled two runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Flurry, who batted 3-for-4 in the game, drove in Barnes to make it 11-2. Roland tacked on its final three runs in the seventh to eliminate the Lady Indians.
Okemah won the regional championship with a 6-3 victory against Haskell, but had a close call against Roland in the day's first game.
The Lady Rangers were down 3-0 after the opening two innings before mounting a comeback in the top of the fourth. Tyler hit a single and Richards followed her with a base on balls. They made it home on hits by Roberts and Lawson to cut the gap to 3-2, but Roland could get no closer.
Cosner, Wilson and Stormie Rodgers each had two hits for Roland in the first-round loss.
Pairings for the state tournament will be announced on Monday. The first two rounds are scheduled for Wednesday at Reaves Park in Norman with the championship game set for Thursday at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Roland, which is now 24-7, advanced to regionals with a win over Muldrow in the district playoffs.
