By Byron Beers/Staff Writer

SHAWNEE — El Reno head coach Lynetta Keller made a list of thoughts for her team to ponder as they made their way to Shawnee on Wednesday for the second day of the Class 5A regional tournament.

At the end of the list was a statement that read “believe, believe, believe.” Following El Reno’s disheartening loss to Shawnee on Tuesday where the Wolves rallied with four runs in the seventh inning to defeat the Indians 4-3, the Indians needed Keller’s words of wisdom.

Feasting on those words and approaching elimination day as a cool, calm and collected bunch, the Indians did the unthinkable by winning three straight elimination games that bolstered them into the state tournament — the first state tournament appearance in school history.

The Indians also reversed their misfortunes against Shawnee and shook off a seventh-inning curse that had haunted them in their previous two match-ups with the Wolves.

Keller’s squad wasted no time in conquering their quest and would never trail in any of the three games. They blasted Northeast Classen 12-0 to start the day and followed that with back-to-back wins over top-seeded and fourth-ranked Shawnee by scores of 2-0 and 7-1.