Eupora’s softball season came to an end last week at the hands of the one of the state’s hottest teams.
The Lady Eagles lost both games to the Lady Tornadoes, falling 5-2 on Thursday and 6-1 on Friday as the Lady Tornadoes swept the series and advanced to the Class 2A state championship series.
The Lady Eagles finish the season with an 18-9 record.
“We have had a great season,” Eupora coach Amir Hunt said. “We started the season 2-7 and nobody would have given us a chance to be here. We had some big wins. We beat Lake who was state runner-up last year. We beat East Union and they are supposed to be here. We have got a good team and that competition was pretty tough early in the season. We just had to keep our heads up and stay afloat. All of that stuff paid off. I wouldn’t have done anything differently.”
Against Philadelphia, the Lady Eagles ran into one of the state’s top juniors in pitcher Nia Luckett, who is committed to play at Jones Junior College. Luckett pitched every inning for Philadelphia and was also a terror on the bases for the Lady Tornadoes.
“She is going to fill up the strike zone and she is going to throw it hard,” Hunt said. “We might hit her but not many teams are going to string (hits) together. We weren’t able to string together those four or five hits this series.”
In the 6-1 loss on Friday, the Lady Tornadoes played classic small ball as they stole seven bases and executed three squeeze bunts to take the win.
“Speed kills and they have it,” Hunt said. “If they put the ball in play, they are going to kill you with speed. You just about have to play a perfect game against those top four or five girls to give yourself a chance. If you make one mistake, they are going to take extra bases. They have a chance to score three or four runs every time they get to the top of the lineup. They are just that solid up there.”
In game 1 of the series, the Lady Eagles had seven hits as Alley Reed was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a run scored. Haley Farley was also 2-for-3 and scored a run. Philly scored three in the first and added single runs in the third and fifth innings as they had nine hits in the contest.
In game 2 of the series, the Lady Eagles had six hits as Alley Reed, Haley Farley, Kylie Richardson, Addison Mason, Haylee McCrory and Patience Bingham each had singles. Farley scored Eupora’s only run in the third after leading off the inning with a walk.
