Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
OKLAHOMA CITY — Thanks to an offensive explosion, Piedmont has a chance to shock the Oklahoma softball world Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Wildcats pounded out 14 hits and rallied from an early 6-3 deficit to defeat Woodward 12-7 in the Class 5A semifinals Friday afternoon at Hall of Fame Stadium Softball Complex.
The victory setup a game with Carl Albert (37-2) who beat Pryor 2-0 earlier on Friday. The Titans have won 33 straight games, but PHS will happily take its shot at slaying Goliath.
“They’re the best team in Oklahoma in any class and everyone knows that. They might be the most talented team I’ve seen in 15 years,” Piedmont head coach Keith Coleman said. “For us, we’re gonna come here and have a great time and play hard and do what we always do and see what happens.”
Piedmont could hardly enter with more momentum, especially offensively. The top four hitters in the ‘Cats’ lineup were a combined 10 for 16 with 10 RBI’s Friday.
Noodle Owen delivered the knockout blow in the seventh with a three-RBI double to extend Piedmont’s lead to 11-7. She finished 3 for 5 with three RBI’s.
Coleman told Owen to be aggressive early in her at-bat.
“With the bases loaded we knew she’d have to throw a first-pitch strike,” he said.
She pounced on the first pitch, grounding it just inside the third base bag and all the way to wall.
“She had been throwing good first pitches and I knew I needed to hit one,” Owen said.
Rikki Hadley was 2 for 4 with a team-high four RBI’s as Piedmont clawed back to within a run in the second inning and took the lead for good with a three-run third.
The teams combined to score nine runs in the first inning as the Boomers took a 6-3 lead, but PHS starter Chloe Bohuslavicky settled in and allowed just one run the rest of the way.
Bohuslavicky added three hits in four at-bats with three RBI’s.
