Lady Owls need two more wins to earn regional tourney berth

ELGIN – The Elgin Lady Owls are on seven-game win streak, but they’ll have to win two more games Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Elgin is in fourth place in the Class 4A-4 district, which will force them to win the best of three games against Sulphur to advance to the regional tournament next week in Weatherford. Fourth- and fifth-place teams in all districts must play in a cross-over play-in series.

The first Elgin-Sulphur game will start at 11 a.m. at Elgin, which serves as the host team. Sulphur is in fifth place in District 4A-3.

“They (Sulphur) will be ready for us,” Elgin head coach Levi Garrett said. “They have good pitching, and they run the bases really well. We’ll have to play our best to advance. You don’t learn how to win by just showing up. You have to earn your stripes.”

Elgin is 23-9 overall and 9-5 in district play, while Sulphur’s season mark is 11-16 and 4-8 in district games.

If Elgin advances to the regional tournament, the Lady Owls would play host Weatherford in the first round Oct. 6. The tourney continues through Oct. 8.

Win streak

The seven-game win streak started after district foe Newcastle thumped Elgin 10-0 on Sept. 19. Since then, Elgin has pulled off victories against Chickasha, Bethany, Guthrie, Edmond Santa Fe, Edmond North and Lawton Ike. The Lady Owls took two from Chickasha during a doubleheader.

The wins against Guthrie, Edmond Santa Fe, Edmond North and Lawton Ike came during the Chickasha Festival, which was played last Saturday.

In the first game against Guthrie, Elgin tallied four runs in the top of the seventh to claim the win. The Lady Owls used four singles, a wild pitch and two Guthrie errors to score the four runs. Guthrie made a brief rally with one run in the bottom of the seventh.

Elgin notched walk-off wins against Edmond Santa Fe and Edmond North. The Lady Owls tallied three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to win 7-6.

Cora Holmgren had a solid night at the plate with two hits in three at-bats and two RBI. She also scored a run. Teammate Kamber Crow also had two hits, two runs and two RBI.

Jordan Johnson picked up the win against Edmond Santa Fe, allowing five earned runs on four hits while striking out three hitters and walking five.

Elgin also won in walk-off style against Edmond North with a fielder’s choice that gave the Lady Owls a 10-9 victory. Dez Monoessy hit in the fielder’s choice that allowed Kegyn Wendell to score from third base. Wendell scored three runs against Edmond North.

Elgin notched its fourth win during the festival with a 4-1 count over Lawton Ike. The Lady Owls tallied three runs in the first inning, which was more than enough to notch their seventh win in a row.

Elgin used three singles and an intentional walk to score the runs. Lawton Ike scored its only run in the top of the fourth inning.

Monoessy was credited with the win, as she pitched four innings while allowing only one earned run on three hits. She struck out four Lawton Ike batters and walked one.