Roland, which is ranked sixth in Class 5A, pushed its record to 16-6 with the sweep and head coach Crystal Looper was pleased to see her team overcome a rough first inning in the day's first game, a 4-3 win over Muldrow. The Rangers allowed just one run over the next 13 innings and edged Sallisaw 2-1 in the nightcap.
"I thought we started off a little shaky against Muldrow and I was worried about how we were going to play," said Looper. "But we got it together and started making great defensive plays. Chelsea Matlock in left field had two or three really good catches."
Roland 2, Sallisaw 1
The Lady Rangers took advantage of two Sallisaw errors to score the winning run with a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Molly Gordon ripped a well-hit grounder between the legs of a Sallisaw infielder to drive in teammate Kensey Clark, breaking a 1-1 deadlock and avenging a loss earlier this season to the Lady Diamonds.
"It was a good, hard-hit ball and we'll take it any way we can get it," said Looper. "Molly has hit really well for us the last week. She hit one out of the park the other day and she's really taking her hitting to the next level. I'm real pleased for her."
Sallisaw (21-7) has had an impressive season so far, moving up to No. 7 in the Class 6A rankings. The Lady Diamonds haven't been shut out all season, but they were held scoreless by Roland for the first six innings on Monday.
With her team trailing 1-0, Shelby Rea got Sallisaw going with a single in the top of the seventh inning. Erica Robertson followed her with an RBI double to deep left field, tying the game and breaking up the shutout.
"We were close to the shutout," said Looper. "I thought we were going to do it, but the Robertson girl got a huge hit for them. Then we had a couple of good stops to keep them from getting that next run in."
Roland had seven hits in the win as Linzie Roberts, Natalie Pe
