Despite solid outings from pitchers Bre Capenter and Ashlea Hill, along with good defensive play, El Reno saw its softball season come to an end Wednesday afternoon at Deer Creek High School during Class 5A regional action.

Chickasha avenged a loss to the Indians just one day earlier to upend El Reno 1-0.

The Indians finish with an overall mark of 19-18 in head coach Lynetta Keller’s second season at the helm.

El Reno did reach an accomplishment it aimed for at the beginning of the season. Keller wanted her bunch to surpass the .500 mark in the win-loss column.

“We just wanted to end on a good note and we told the players to think about all the good things we’ve done this year,” Keller said. “We reached one of our goals and that was to have a winning season.”

The Fightin’ Chicks scored the game’s only run in the opening frame.

Deven Brandt led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Torri Holman, moved to third on a sacrifice fly from Destinee Foust and then crossed home plate on a wild pitch by Carpenter.

“We played great defense and got solid pitching in order to win the ball game, but we just couldn’t get any hits to fall,” Keller said.

El Reno was limited to just four hits off Chickasha starter Morgan Singleton.

“We made good contact, but just couldn’t find many holes,” Keller added. “I felt we hit really well in all three games.”
The Indians went 1-2 in the regional. They defeated Chickasha 4-3 in the opener and were shut out 7-0 by top-seeded Deer Creek, both played on Tuesday.

El Reno threatened to score in both the fifth and sixth innings, but left runners stranded both times.

The Indians did not have a runner get beyond second base in the entire contest.

Tana Ramsey singled in the fifth and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kellie Mogg. Carpenter then followed with a single to put runners on first and second, but Connor Bushyhead went down on strikes to end the inning.

In the sixth, Andrea Dyer reached on a base hit and Hill walked to get EHS started. But Chelcie Robb grounded out to third base for the third out.

Jasmine Gore was the final El Reno player to reach base during the seventh on a walk. Gore was left standing on first after Bushyhead lined out to third to end the contest.

Joining Ramsey, Carpenter and Dyer with a single was Bushyhead, who led off the first with a hit.

“We hit the ball really well against Chickasha,” Keller said. “We exploded on them the first time against them and them kind off cooled down, but for the most part the bats stayed hot.”

El Reno did not suffer in the pitching or fielding departments. Carpenter and Hill combined to surrender just two hits.

As the starting pitcher, Carpenter went four and two-third innings, allowing one earned run on only one hit. The senior left-hander recorded two strikeouts and walked two.

Carpenter was spelled by Hill after hitting a pair of batters during the fifth.

“She just started to feel the pressure a little bit and had control problems,” Keller said.

Hill gave up one hit over the final one and one-third on an inning.