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By MIKE KAYS
CNHI News Service
FORT GIBSON — Rocking and rolling through five innings Tuesday afternoon, Tahlequah pitcher Brittany Johnson’s eyes got raised courtesy of a few consecutive moves by Fort Gibson coach James Parnell.
The frustrated FGHS coach decided to empty his bench with a parade of seldom-used reserves sent in to pinch-hit. In other words, no starter took her spot in the batter’s box after Johnson had handcuffed FGHS on one hit to that point of what became a two-hit, 4-0 victory.
“I wasn’t sure what to make of it then I thought, ‘welllllll, OK.’” Johnson said. “I just tried to strike them out, I mean, they’re like any other batter.”
Parnell said it wasn’t an intentional white flag of surrender.
“Trying to figure out what makes us go or doesn’t make us go,” Parnell said. “After a while you just get tired of seeing the same ol’ stuff. After a while, someone else deserves a chance.”
One of those took advantage of her chance. Julia Hill, the second pinch-hitter of six, singled with one out in the sixth. But like Kristin Freeman, the eight-hole hitter who doubled into the left field gap in the third inning, Freeman got no further.
FGHS hit only four balls out of the infield off Johnson, who moved to Tahlequah this summer from Salina, Kan., where she was the No. 3 pitcher for Salina South and threw in last season’s Kansas state tournament.
“I was thinking about a no-hitter. I’ve had a couple of close ones,” Johnson said. “On that hit in the third I just let it slip. It was supposed to be outside, it went down them middle and (Freeman) got it.”
Tahlequah coach Matt Cloud was full of praise for her and the team.
“How many did she walk?” he said. Given the answer of one in the third, he nodded affirmingly.
“I’ve preached all season if they don’t walk anybody and play good defense, we’ll be in a lot of games. We’ve played good defense and she’s carried us through. We’re going to ride this out as long as it lasts.”
She got all the offense she needed in the first at-bat. Ashley Boswell doubled with one out, scoring Jessie Patrick. Fielder’s choice grounders by Jenna Reed and Whitney Whittmore accounted for the other two runs.
In the fourth, after Johnson’s one-out double to left, Kaitlin Rippetoe also went to left. Hers sailed over a fast retreating Mikayla Gibson, landed, then rolled to the fench.
Fort Gibson’s best chance of making it a game offensively came when Freeman got the first hit. Gibson’s fly out to Jenna Reed in center field kept her put, but then Kirby Parnell lined a shot up the middle which Patrick, the Tahlequah shortstop, cut off with a snagging grab, then flipped to second baseman Randee O’Donnell to double off Freeman.
“I rely on the girls around me, I really do,” Johnson said. “Jessie on short and Randee on second cover the middle really well and our first six batters are phenomenal.”
Tahlequah, 15-1 and ranked fourth by Okrankings in Class 5A, has won 12 straight contests under Cloud, in his first season since replacing Ronnie Rogers.
“I’ve been hearing the last week that we really haven’t played anyone,” Cloud said. “We’ve played Sequoyah who is strong in 3A and Fort Gibson’s solid in 4A even though they’re young. They’re just not 5A teams I guess. But we get (No. 5 in 5A) Pryor later this week so I think time the week’s up we’ll show people what we have.”
Fort Gibson pitcher Caitlin Craig gave up six hits as her team fell to 8-5. Oklahoma commit Erica Sampson had two of those hits, including a triple in the seventh.
“Caitlin pitched her heart out. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t give her any support,” Parnell said. “Tahlequah’s a good test for us and (Johnson’s) a good pitcher. We saw where we’re at.”
