Claremore pitcher Alexis Morton gave Rilyn Stringfellow exactly what she wanted.
On just the second pitch of the at-bat, Morton delivered a ball down the middle, and Stringfellow didn’t hesitate. The Verdigris junior, already with 4 home runs in her first six games, crushed the pitch over the left-field wall for yet another long ball — this time in an unofficial first-ever meeting between the neighboring schools.
The two Rogers County programs, separated by just 9 miles, clashed Saturday in the RSU Festival at RCB Bank Sports Complex, with the Lady Cardinals securing a 6-1 victory behind Stringfellow’s bat and her Division I-caliber arm.
“I was just waiting on the one pitch that I needed to hit,” Stringfellow said. “I got it and just handled it well.”
Stringfellow not only homered and drove in 3 runs, but she also went the distance in the circle.
She struck out 8 and allowed just 1 run, though the Lady Zebras [10-4] managed to scratch out 3 hits and draw 4 walks — a notable feat considering Stringfellow had surrendered only 4 walks total in her first five starts of the season.
It also marked the first time this season Stringfellow didn’t finish with double-digit strikeouts, but that streak was cut short not necessarily by Claremore, but by the game’s predesignated time limit.
The contest lasted less than an hour and a half, and had a full game been played, she would have had at least two more innings to reach 10-plus strikeouts yet again.
“We’ve competed against some really good competition this weekend, and we saw the girl from Lincoln Christian, and she was probably one of the better pitchers that we saw,” Claremore coach Jon Eddy said, referring to the Lady Zebras’ 6-1 win two days earlier. “We did a little better against her than we did against the girl from Verdigris, but she’s pretty good. It’s just one of those things where sometimes we’re on and sometimes we’re not, and tonight wasn’t really it. We’ll be ready for it when it presents itself next time.”
Verdigris [6-1] got additional help at the plate from Shay Melson and Connelly Mitchell, who each collected RBI hits. Sydney Lewis chipped in with 2 singles and 2 runs scored, while Macy Beauchamp and Olivia Young also contributed to the offensive output.
Morton earned 1 strikeout through her 4.2 innings, surrendering 6 hits and 6 runs [3 earned] while also allowing 3 walks.
Claremore’s lone run came in the top of the first, when Bella Weaver singled before scoring on an Avery Hyde RBI knock. Weaver also added a walk, and catcher Hyde recorded the Lady Zebras’ only extra-base hit with a double in the fourth, finishing 2-for-2.
The Lady Zebras struck first, capitalizing on Weaver’s single when Hyde later drove her in with a ground-ball single to left, giving them an early 1-0 lead.
The Lady Cardinals answered immediately.
Gabi Sherman walked and scored on Stringfellow’s RBI single to left, tying the game. Melson followed with a hard-hit RBI single, and when Brinlee Murray crossed on a passed ball, the Verdigris carried a 3-1 advantage into the second.
After a scoreless inning, Stringfellow delivered the knockout blow in the third, smashing her homer to left to extend the lead to 5-1. Later that inning, Mitchell’s bunt single plated another run to push the cushion to 6-1.
From there, it was all Stringfellow in the circle.
Despite some free passes, she buckled down in big moments, striking out 2 with runners on in the fifth and coaxing weak contact to close the door.
“She’s a dog,” Verdigris coach Brian Keith said. “That girl is probably harder on herself, and she’s a competitor and just a great two-way player for us.”
Keith, now in his 19th season, said he couldn’t recall his Lady Cardinals ever facing Claremore before Saturday.
The matchup carried added weight not just because of proximity, but because both programs have built strong reputations in Oklahoma high school softball. However, the veteran coach did not play up the significance of the meeting to his team, choosing instead to focus on getting better and developing young talent.
“We’ve scrimmaged them before, but we’ve never played a game against them — this is the first time,” said Keith, whose team went 2-1 in the RSU Festival with wins over Grove and Claremore and a loss to Dewey without Stringfellow in the circle. “But our biggest process right now is getting better. We lost three really players last year, and we lost our four-hole at the beginning of the year with a labrum injury. We’re playing with a bunch of young kids. We’ve got four kids in there who are 14 years old; they are young. That’s where we are right now, trying to get 1% better every day and just trying to coach these kids up.”
Meanwhile, the Lady Zebras still walked away from the RSU Festival with a 4-1 record, earning wins over Lincoln Christian, Vinita [6-2], Sequoyah Tahlequah [5-3] and Marlow [4-3].
The loss to Verdigris ended a six-game winning streak.
“We really like playing in it because we didn’t play any teams that didn’t give us a challenge,” Eddy said. “That’s really good for us getting into district play next week. That’s why we want to do stuff like this. To see good competition early and kind of match up where we’re going to be later on down the road and go get after it in district.
“It’s a good thing for us to get challenged early so we don’t get surprised with that later on.”