O'Canada, Barclay and Milley Power Wranglers to Win over Weatherford
Team Stats
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Weatherford College
ARTICLE BY: MICHAEL BAUER | ODESSA AMERICAN
Going up against No. 20-ranked Weatherford College and the No. 6 pitcher in the nation in strikeouts, the No. 7 Odessa College softball team had to be patient.
The Wranglers patience paid off in the third inning with Mason Barclay's grand slam that gave the hosts an insurmountable lead.
Playing in the first round of the NJCAA Southwest District A Championship, Western Junior College Athletic Conference winners Odessa College defeated Weatherford College 5-1 Wednesday at Wrangler Softball Complex.
The Coyotes' starting pitcher Sarah Hanf proved to be as good as advertised, finishing with 10 strikeouts from five innings of work.
However, it wouldn't be enough as the Lady Wranglers managed to load the bases in the third inning before Barclay's home run and the Coyotes couldn't get much going after that.
"That's our DNA," Odessa College head coach Doug Eastman said. "I knew a few of our batters were going to strike out. Their pitcher has a great spin and we haven't seen that in a while. We've played some middle of the road teams down the stretch and she did her job. But we were patient enough to get that one big hit in that one big inning and you can't do better than that."
Odessa College improved to 44-4 while Weatherford College fell to 33-14.
Wrangler pitcher Haydn Milley got the victory for the hosts, pitching a complete game and pitching a no-hitter.
"You can't take a pitcher out of the game when she's throwing a no-hitter," Eastman said. "I would probably be hung by one of these poles out here. So, we stayed with her and she pitched beautifully."
Odessa will face Grayson College at 10am on Thursday morning in the winners bracket. Grayson defeated Western TX 11-2 in the second game of the day.