An eventful season for the Choctaw County softball team that included a region championship ended on a low note when the Lady Chargers were put out of the 3A playoffs with 12-2 and 19-1 losses to Nettleton.
With no seniors on the team, first year head coach Lauren Fancher expected the season to be a growing experience. But she feels the growth will pay off.
“I'm excited for next year already,” she said after the 19-1 home loss ended the best of three series.
Choctaw County lost six seniors from last year's team, including its top hitters, to graduation. “We were used to knocking balls off the fence,” Fancher said. “I told them (her players) that we are not able to do that. We're going to have to do this, that and the other, steal bases and use our short game.”
That worked in Region 3-3A play where the Lady Chargers were 8-0. But Choctaw County struggled against stiffer non-region competition, finishing 10-8 overall.
“We went into the season knowing we would have growing pains,” Fancher said.
Choctaw County was hit by injuries at the most vital spot, pitching. “We started this year with three pitchers and one of them had surgery before we played a game so we were down to two pitchers. And I lost one to a knee injury so I was down to one pitcher,” Fancher said of Molly Thomas, an eighth grader.
In the series opener, Nettleton scored five runs in the sixth to end the game. Choctaw County scored single runs in the fourth and fifth. Makenzie Sanders had two hits for the Lady Chargers.
The second game was 1-1 after an inning. Choctaw County answered a Nettleton run in the top of the first. Raquela Graham walked and scored when Hailey Miller lined a two-out single into centerfield.
But after that it was all Nettleton in a four-inning game.
Thomas struggled with her control, walking eight. “Pitching is a hard job when you have three or four people behind you in the dugout who can help you, but she literally had nobody with pitching experience who could help her,” Fancher said.
She was relieved in the third by Graham who faced six batters before Thomas reentered the game.
Choctaw County has two summer league games scheduled with Nanih Waiya in June and Fancher is hoping to schedule additional games. “It's hard to do in the summertime when everyone is planning vacations.”
Nettleton is a traditional power in both fast-pitch and slow-pitch. The Lady Tigers won a fast-pitch state championship in 2011 and was runnerup to St. Patrick in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
