Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
Piedmont’s softball team had its own way of celebrating the regional championship it won on Tuesday.
It didn’t.
— Blake Colston (@CBlakeColston) October 3, 2017
As third baseman Abby Detar fielded a ground ball cleanly and threw to first base for the final out of a 9-0 regional final win over El Reno, no one sprinted from the dugout. No one on the field headed for the circle to dog pile.
After a few hugs and high fives, the team headed straight for the handshake line.
The way Piedmont sees things, its work has just begun. The Wildcats will likely play Shawnee in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament next Thursday at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
“It’s a great win, it’s a great thing for our program to get to the state tournament,” head coach Keith Coleman said. “But I think we expected to be there. I’m glad, honestly, that we didn’t dog pile. We want to save that for the state tournament.”
If Piedmont (28-5) continues to play the kind of softball it has recently, dog piling in Oklahoma City isn’t out of the question. The Wildcats outscored its competition in regionals 38-1 in three games.
Chloe Bohuslavicky pitched a complete game four-hitter with six strikeouts Tuesday.
It didn’t appear that the sophomore ace had her best stuff, but she still managed to work around a bases loaded jam in the first inning and stranded two runners on base in the second. She coasted from there, lowering her ERA on the season to 1.40.
“She’s been a key for us this year, because when she pitches we have a great chance to win,” Coleman said. “Today she didn’t have her best stuff, but it shows the maturity she has that she can still find ways to get people out and throw a shutout in the regional title game.”
Senior outfielder Noodle Owen went 2 for 3 including a three-run home run in Piedmont’s five-run second inning that broke open the game early on.
For the full version of this story and more like it, subscribe to the Piedmont-Surrey Gazette for only $39 a year. Call (405) 373-1616 for details.
