PRAGUE — The Vian Lady Wolverines saw their 2024 fast-pitch softball season come to a close Friday afternoon when they lost 4-0 to the Antlers Lady Bearcats in the loser’s-bracket final of the Class 3A Regional Tournament.
The regional tournament also started with a 4-3 loss to the Lady ’Cats in the opening round Thursday afternoon before the Lady Wolverines beat Sequoyah-Claremore 7-2 in the loser’s-bracket semifinal to stay alive in the tournament until Friday.
The Lady Wolverines end the season at 12-18.
In the season-ending loss to Antlers, the Lady Bearcats broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with two runs, then scored two more runs in the seventh inning.
In defeat, Halli Russell was 2-for-3, while Rayleigh Terrill doubled for Vian.
Kala Gibbins (1218) suffered the loss, although she recorded four strikeouts in seven innings.
In the first loss to Antlers, the Lady Wolverines tied the game at 3-all in the seventh inning on an Antlers error, but the Lady ’Cats walked off the win with a run in the home half of the frame.
The Lady Wolverines tied the game at 1-all in the third inning on Aubrey Craighead’s twoout RBI single, only to see Antlers regain the lead at 2-1 entering the fourth inning.
Vian re-tied the game at 2-all in the fifth inning on Hanna Mattingly’s RBI grounder, but the Lady Bearcats regained the lead at 3-2 with a run in the sixth inning, setting up the dramatic seventh inning.
In defeat, Mattingly was 2-for-3 with a double for Vian.
Gibbins took the loss, despite getting two Ks in 6.1 innings.
In the regional win over Sequoyah-Claremore, the Lady Wolverines broke a scoreless deadlock in the third inning on RBI singles by Gibbins, Terrill and Mattingly for a 3-0 lead.
After the Lady Eagles cut their deficit to 32 after three innings, the Lady Wolverines scored once in the fifth inning, twice in the sixth inning and once in the seventh inning to seal the deal.
For the game, Rebel Simon was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored, Gibbins was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Terrill was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for Vian.
Gibbins got the win, pitching a four-hitter with five strikeouts.
