Chickasha Baseball Wraps Up District Play With Sweep Over Pauls Valley

A sweep to end the district schedule this week secured a home playoff spot for the Fightin’ Chicks.

The Chickasha baseball team beat Pauls Valley 10-0 Tuesday on the road to end regular season district play. The win Monday night at home, 4-1, secured a home playoff regional site for the Fightin’ Chicks, which will begin next week.

“Well you always kind of shoot for (home playoff games),” said Chickasha coach Kevin James. “It’s kind of an unspoken goal all year long and you’ve gotta play well on Monday and Tuesday in district play to get that chance to host, so we achieved that.”

In Tuesday’s game, pitchers Layton Bryan and Tyson Owens combined to pitch a one-hit ballgame. Bryan, the starter who got the win, pitched four innings with seven strikeouts, giving up just one hit and two walks. Owens came in the fifth inning to close the game out with three strikeouts.

At the plate, the Fightin’ Chicks combined for 11 hits and seven walks. Second baseman Javier Nieto led the team with three RBIs while first baseman Lane Johnson had two RBIs.

“Layton pitched well for us tonight, getting seven strikeouts, and Tyson Owens came in and struck out three to finish it,” James said. “They pitched ahead and made it tough on their hitters all night long. We had 11 hits tonight and saw a guy who was throwing three different pitches at us, but we had a more patient approach and did a good job at the plate. Proud of our effort at the plate and on the mound and we made some nice plays defensively, so overall a good ball game.”

In the first game against Pauls Valley Monday, Chickasha won 4-1. The win was highlighted by junior Brody Ross’ dominance on the mound, but also by timely hits for the Fightin’ Chicks.

Ross pitched six innings with 11 strikeouts, giving up seven hits and one earned run. Ross got the win while senior Layton Bryan got the save, pitching a hitless seventh inning to close out the game.

The Fightin’ Chicks started the game with a run in the first inning batted in by Lane Jay, who scored Cooper McKinney from second base.

McKinney scored another run in the third inning from second base, with Lane Johnson batting in Chickasha’s eventual winning run.

Nolan Myrko legged out a triple in the fourth inning, which scored Tyson Owens. Caiden Boswell, who ran for Myrko, scored off Javier Nieto’s sacrifice fly.

The playoffs will begin next week, but the Fightin’ Chicks are hopeful to get in at least one of their scheduled preparation games this week. Weather is threatening the Fightin’ Chicks from playing until the playoffs later next week.

The Fightin’ Chicks are scheduled to play Thursday at home against Lawton MacArthur and Saturday at Weatherford, pending the rain. With rain chances the rest of the week, the games are up in the air, but James has a plan if they can’t get the games in to end the season.

“If we get to play Thursday, Lawton Mac is a good test for us and hopefully we get to throw a few guys, so hopefully the same thing on Saturday,” James said. “If by chance we don’t get either one this week, we will try to find a game on Monday. There is a possibility we can pick one up so that we don’t have a seven-day layoff between today and regional play. We’re set where we want to and need to go take care of business. Excited about where we are at and looking forward to this next week.”