By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
The Wildcats are heading back to the state tournament.
Piedmont cruised through the 2019 regional tournament last week, knocking off Santa Fe South and Guymon (twice) to punch its ticket to state. The Cats’ second win over Guymon, an 8-0 shutout, clinched the regional tournament title.
Piedmont scored five runs in the first three innings of the regional championship game, including two runs in both the first and second innings.
Kennedi Morelock got things going in the first with a leadoff walk before stealing second and then scoring on a groundout by Karissa Fiegener for a 1-0 lead. Rikki Hadley followed with a two-out single before stealing second and then scoring on a knock by Chloe Bohuslavicky for a two-run advantage.
Ashlyn Brown started the second inning with a single before reaching third on an error and scoring on a groundout by Jade Rowland for a 3-0 lead. Ellie Griffin doubled later in the inning and then scored on an RBI single by Morelock for a 4-0 advantage. Fiegener doubled in the third inning and then scored on a single by Brown to make it 5-0 through three.
The Cats scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth innings to seal the victory and their ticket to state.
Hadley led off the fifth with a solo home run to make it 6-0. Griffin led off the sixth with a walk and later scored after two straight singles by Morelock and Lauren Anglin before an RBI knock by Bohuslavicky to make it 8-0.
Bohuslavicky picked up the complete-game victory, allowing just five hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
With the win, the Wildcats captured their third straight regional championship and return to the state tournament for a third straight year. They finished the regular season with a 24-8 record and kickoff the state tournament today at 4 p.m. against Woodward in Shawnee.
