Sallisaw’s regional at Bristow begins Thursday

Sallisaw‚s Lady Diamonds go to Bristow Thursday for the start of their Class 4A regional softball tournament.

The Lady Diamonds, who defeated Cleveland 5-4 and 15-2 in last week‚s play-in series at Sallisaw, will take on Bristow, the District 4A-5 champion, at noon before second-seeded Verdigris and third-seeded Grove play at 2 p.m.

The Sallisaw-Bristow loser takes on the Verdigris-Grove loser at 4 p.m. and the winners of the first two games meet at 6 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament resumes on Friday with games at noon and 2 p.m. and the if-necessary game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The regional tournament winners advance to next week‚s state tournament.

Sallisaw, the fourth-place team in District 4A-8, advanced to the regional tournament with its play-in wins over Cleveland.

“I was just so proud of our girls,” Sallisaw head coach Hannah Gehrke said after winning the series Thursday. “I got here a couple of years ago and we didn‚t really have goals. We set some goals of winning districts, making it to the next level and just having the goal to do it.

“We played 14 games in July, we just worked hard all season, we‚ve had our ups and downs but right now they‚re getting together and they know their hard work is paying off.

“I preached to them, ’one game at a time,‚ and they did it. We came in knowing that this could be it and we had to leave it all on the line and that‚s what they did. Our goal was to make districts, we made it and now we‚re going to regionals, so we‚re just stepping it up and it‚s just building this program. I‚m so proud of those seniors, they were sophomores when I got here and they‚ve just been building it and setting the goals and setting the bar high for the young kids. I‚m just so proud of our kids and winning bi-districts to go to regionals.”

Sallisaw 15, Cleveland 2 (Game 2) Sallisaw pitcher Emily Gregory took a perfect game to the bottom of the fifth inning and the Lady Diamonds registered 14 hits as Sallisaw topped the Lady Tigers in the second game of the play-in series.

Sallisaw, the visiting team, scored two runs in the top of the first inning. After Cambree Scott walked and Madison Green reached on an error a walk to Gregory loaded the bases. Emma Lessley‚s sacrifice fly to center field gave Sallisaw a 1-0 lead and one-out later Green scored the second run on an errant pitch with Makenna Bormann in the batter‚s box.

Camdyn Johnson doubled to right center field with two outs in the Sallisaw second but a flyout ended the at-bat.

Green led off the top of the third with a single to right center field before Gregory walked. Lessley‚s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners before Shaylee Choate‚s base hit drove in two runs to make the score 4-0. After Bormann drew a walk Rylee Meece‚s RBI double to right center field and Sydney Weedon‚s two-RBI double gave the Lady Diamonds a 7-0 advantage.

In the Sallisaw fourth Gregory‚s oneout single and Lessley‚s RBI triple down the third-base line made the score 8-0.

The Lady Diamonds added two runs to their lead in the top of the fifth on Johnson‚s sacrifice bunt and back-toback RBI singles by Scott and Green.

Gregory retired the first 13 Cleveland hitters in the game but with one out in the bottom of the fifth consecutive singles by Maddie Swain, Rielly Walker and Kinley Stiger loaded the bases. One out later Addy Irving‚s two-RBI base hit sliced two runs off the deficit (10-2) and extended the game.

Gregory led off the Sallisaw sixth with a home run over the left field fence and a single by Lessley, Bormann‚s RBI triple to the gap in right center field and Meece‚s RBI single allowed the Lady Diamonds to go in front 13-2. Johnson followed with a base hit and Sallisaw registered its final two runs on Scott‚s fielder‚s choice and an error on a ball put in play by Green.

Gregory struck out two and walked none while allowing four hits and two earned runs.

Cleveland committed three errors in the contest and Sallisaw had none.

“The bats came around and Emily Gregory pitched two heck of a games and she did a great job of hitting spots,” Gehrke said. “She did a great job in the circle going for us, knowing she‚s coming off a little injury so she‚s fighting for us and being a leader and a senior.”

Sallisaw 5, Cleveland 4 (Game 1) The Lady Diamonds won Game 1 on Shaylee Choate‚s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday.

Madison Green, Makenna Bormann, Emma Lessley and Sydney Weedon all had multiple hits for Sallisaw in the contest and Green and Bormann led Sallisaw‚s hitters with three apiece.

Emily Gregory (7.0 innings) picked up the win inside the circle for the Lady Diamonds. The senior gave up 11 hits and four runs while striking out six.