Published: August 30, 2007 12:10 pm         

Tuttle lays claim to top spot with win over Piedmont

In the marquee matchup of the day Saturday at the OKC Hall of Fame Shootout, second-ranked Tuttle beat top-ranked Piedmont 2-1 to stay unbeaten at 13 games and stake their claim to the top spot in 4A.

It took the international tiebreaker to finish it after Piedmont squeezed out a run in the bottom of the sixth with game time expired to knot things up at one each.

Tiger coach Jerry Bates predicted a one-run game and it came down to that in a pitchers' duel between unbeaten senior Cassie Chambless and Wildcat ace Bethany Meiwes.

These kind of games are usually decided by mistakes and when Piedmont left fielder Katie Jirak badly misread second baseman Audra Chambless's deep fly ball in the top of the fifth, it opened the door for Tuttle.

Chambless ended up on second with a “shoulda-been-caught” double and sophomore Lacey Stonebraker's RBI single to right-center made Piedmont pay for the gaff.

With game time just expired in the home sixth, though, another mistake tied things up. Leadoff hitter McKenize Clemmons slapped a bunt single past the drawn-up Tiger defense then Jirak redeemed herself by hustling out a sacrifice bunt to put the winner on first with no one out.

Chambless got three-hole Karly Colbert to pop up to catcher Sara Harwell for the first out but then had to rush her throw on Kristina Davis' bunt and the ball got by sister Audra covering first.

Clemmons scored the equalizer easily on the bad throw but Piedmont coach Rick Scott tried to end it, keeping the speedy Jirak running hard from second. Right fielder Tara Williams was right where she was supposed to be for the backup, however, and fired a bullet to Harwell to cut Jirak down by two full steps for the game-saving second out.

A pumped-up Chambless overpowered Nikki Schramm for her eighth strikeout to send it to the tiebreaker.

Davis had come in from first base to pitch for the 'Cats in the sixth and got Tuttle in order but took the loss in the seventh with the tiebreaker in effect.

Katie Turner, the final batter in the sixth, started out on second base. Williams tried to move her over but fouled off a two strike-bunt for an out. Harwell stepped in and also showed bunt but dropped her hands and slapped the ball past the pulled-up infield to score Turner for the 2-1 lead.

Courtesy runner Kayla Gripe was gunned by the field blue for leaving first early on a hit and run for the second out and after Audra singled for her second hit of the game, Stonebraker grounded out to short.

Tuttle ran themselves out of an insurance run but Cassie made the one run stand, setting the Wildcats down in order on a foul-ball bunted third strike, a come-backer and a routine popup to Turner at short.

“I expected this,” Bates said after the game. “They're very talented. Their only losses came to Putnam City (currently #17 in 6A) in a one-run game and Carl Albert (currently second in 5A and defending state champions) and they came back to beat Putnam City later. They're pretty solid.”

When the new rankings come out this week, the Lady Tigers should deservedly find themselves at the top of the 4A heap.