MANNFORD — At some point, you can stop saying, “nice start.”
It’s not a nice start anymore. It’s dominance.
At 9-1 overall and 5-0 in district play, the Mannford Lady Pirates have sailed into the sea of, You-Might-Want-To-Pay-Attention-To-Us.
They have beaten Kellyville, McLoud, Sperry, North Rock Creek, Berryhill, Cleveland, Durant, Tecumseh and Porum. Nine games. Nine wins.
The lone blemish came against Class 6A Muskogee at the end of last week. which beat Mannford 9-1 at the Sapulpa Festival on Aug. 28. There are worse things in the world of Oklahoma high school fast pitch than having your only loss come against a school several enrollment zip codes larger than you.
According to Lady Pirate head coach Rusty Wood, the reason this thing is working has less to do with some magical coaching ju-ju than with a group of girls who know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing — and actually like doing it together.
Wood starts with his seniors. Second baseman Brooke Kyser. Center fielder Carlee Maxville. First baseman Lexi Lovekamp. Pitcher Cambri Casey. Ava Burton. Manager Avery Black.
“These young ladies have been through the fire, have a solid understanding of what our program is about and have been able to help our young players get through some tough practices,” Wood said.
Then comes preparation. Then chemistry. And apparently, their fair share of nonsense.
“These girls have fun, laugh, do things together outside of softball and want each other to succeed,” Wood said. “I give a big shout out to our freshman class for a big part of this team chemistry. They are full of fun, goofiness, laughter, closeness and, oh by the way, they can play some softball.”
That last part is becoming increasingly difficult to overlook.
Tecumseh
Mannford’s latest run includes a 5-2 district win over Tecumseh that required patience, a little late-game violence with the bats and another complete-game performance from Casey.
Tecumseh led 1-0 before Mannford had even picked up a bat.
Then it became 2-0 in the fourth.
For a team that had spent most of August getting its way, this was dang inconvenient.
So the Mannford girls decided to fix it.
Lovekamp doubled in the bottom of the fourth and moved to third on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch brought her home. 2-1.
Not dramatic. Not stunning. Not yet.
An inning later, Bella Gilbert singled with two outs, then stole second. Abi Hockersmith reached on an error and Gilbert moved to third. Runners on 1 and 3.
That brought Carlee Maxville to the plate, who ripped a line drive into center.
Gilbert scored. Game knotted at 2.
And now Tecumseh had a problem.
While Mannford’s offense was waking up, Casey had stopped giving anything away from the circle. In the sixth, Tecumseh put two runners on with one out.
Casey had enough of those shenanigans. She cut down the lead runner at third herself.
Then she struck out Kreightyn Rodgers. Go ahead run stranded.
So Mannford walked into the bottom of the sixth apparently done with the suspense.
There were two outs when Kyser reached on an error. Tinley Greenwood walked.
Then Casey stepped to the plate. Runners at 1 and 2.
This is where it is worth remembering something Wood mentioned after the game about his senior pitcher.
“Cambri is not just a pitcher,” he said. “She’s also a hitter and loves to hit.”
Tecumseh received the practical demonstration.
Casey drove a ball into left for a double. Kyser scored. Greenwood scored. 4-2.
And because two runs were not a soft enough cushion, Gilbert followed with another double and Casey scored. 5-2.
Three runs. Two doubles. Two outs. Night, night.
When Casey returned to the circle in the seventh, she began the frame with a strikeout.
Tecumseh managed a double and a walk, but Casey fanned another batter before Lovekamp handled the final ground ball at first. Ballgame. Mannford 5. Tecumseh 2.
Casey went all seven innings, allowing seven hits and only one earned run while striking out seven. Gilbert went 3-for-3. Lovekamp and Maxville each had multiple hits.
Mannford committed no errors.
Again, this is becoming a theme.
“It all starts in the circle,” said Wood.
And for the last three years, that circle has belonged largely to Casey.
“When Cambri is in the circle she can sure make it difficult for hitters,” said Wood.
Behind her, Kyser and sophomore shortstop Bella Gilbert anchor the middle infield, while sophomore third baseman Ella Maxville, Carlee Maxville and Lovekamp have helped turn Mannford’s defense into something Wood clearly takes personally.
“Our pitching and defense is something we take pride in,” he said.
Porum
The Lady Panthers got the next clinic.
Mannford beat the Lady Panthers 4-1 later that week at the Sapulpa Festival, and this time the Lady Pirates didn’t bother waiting until the sixth inning to start teaching.
Kyser walked to open the bottom of the first. Greenwood walked. Gilbert walked.
Patience loaded the bases. Abi Hockersmith hit into a fielder’s choice, but Kyser scored anyway. 1-0.
Carlee Maxville then stuffed a bunt single.
Still loaded. Then Lovekamp came to the plate and lined a single into left. Gilbert scored. Hockersmith scored. 3-0.
Three runs in the first inning, and Casey already had more support than she would need.
Still, Porum’s Sophie Boyd homered in the second to cut it to 3-1.
It was the only run Casey allowed. Six innings. Two hits. Eight strikeouts. One walk. One run.
Porum’s offense, for most of the afternoon, consisted of Boyd’s home run and a few overly optimistic trips to the batter’s box.
Mannford added one more in the third when. Gilbert reached on an error and eventually moved to third. Lovekamp came up with two outs. She already had driven in two runs. She singled again. Gilbert scored. 4-1.
Lovekamp finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs from the No. 7 spot in the lineup, which is the kind of thing opposing pitchers absolutely love discovering halfway through a batting order.
And once again, the defense was spotless.
No errors. A double play. Casey holding court from the circle.
Jundgement handed down. The Lady Pirates are winning with seniors. They are winning with sophomores.
They are getting contributions from freshmen who, according to their coach, are apparently operating somewhere between softball players and emotional support humans.
And perhaps most importantly, they appear to understand that, in August, trophies are still very much imaginary.
The loss to Muskogee offered proof that the season still has teeth.
Wood wasn’t interested in dressing it up. “Even in a tough loss, where things didn’t work out the way we wanted them to, the loss doesn’t define us as a team or individual players,” he said. “We learn and move onto the next game.”
That is probably exactly the right response for a team sitting at 9-1.
Enjoy it. Learn from it. Don’t start engraving the park bench.
Not yet. Wood said the focus from here is maintaining the chemistry, continuing to play the game correctly, avoiding the emotional roller coaster that can wreck a long season and — perhaps most importantly — appreciating what this group has together.
“We need to continue our good team chemistry, play the game the right way, not get too high or too low, but most of all cherish our time with one another,” he said.
That sounds suspiciously mature for a team whose coach just described part of the roster as full of goofiness.
But maybe that is the point. The Lady Pirates are loose enough to laugh.
Experienced enough to know better.
Prepared enough to win. And 9-1 enough that nobody really gets to call it a fluke anymore.
Mannford is unbeaten in district play.
Casey is dealing. The defense is clean. The lineup has teeth all the way down to No. 7.
The seniors have been through the fire.
The freshmen are apparently having the time of their lives.
And everybody else in the district?
Well. They get to deal with all of that.