April 2023

In what could be the final meeting between the Canadian County rivals, El Reno High School’s boys soccer team was unable to take full advantage of its scoring opportunities.

Piedmont did.

The Wildcats scored five goals off 23 first-half shots en route to an 11-1 win over the Indians in District 5A-2 play. The loss slips El Reno to 2-5 on the season and 0-2 in the league standings.

Piedmont scored first off a cross-kick in the 37th minute, then followed it with a shot off the hands of El Reno keeper Aldo De La Torre for a 2-0 lead.

Sophomore right-hander Gavin Tinsley struck out Putnam City North’s Daymien Martinez swinging with a 2-2 fastball as El Reno High School’s baseball team held off the Class 6A Panthers for an 8-7 road victory.

Tinsley got the save after entering the contest with two outs and runners at second and third base with the Indians clinging to a two-run lead. He fell behind 2-0 in the count, one of those leading to a score, which moved the tying run to third.

Tinsley battled back with three straight strikes, two of those swinging.

El Reno High School’s tennis teams kicked off the spring with mixed results at the 2023 Putnam City North Invitational held at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center.

The El Reno girls were paced by twins Allynda and Melanna Idell, who won the consolation championship in No.2 doubles with a 6-3/6-2 decision over Putnam City’s Steele and Alrubaie.

The duo fell in straight sets to Mustang’s Grace Shriver and Ella Brooker in the first round before beating teams from Midwest City (6-4/6-3) and Perry (6-3/6-2) to reach the consolation finals.

Playing the only time this season in the same tourney, El Reno High School’s golf teams posted a pair of top five finishes at the 2023 John Marshall Invitational, played at the Cedar Valley Golf Club in Guthrie.

The El Reno girls played the Augusta Course and took third place with a team score of 408, just one shot off their season-best from the 2022 season.

Crescent took first with a 390 score, while Perkins-Tryon edged out the Indians for second by a stroke.

Mother Nature may have benched area baseball teams with high winds last week but she struck out a day earlier with cooler temperatures and spritzing rain.

Both Calumet and Union City high schools battled those conditions to earn wins for the state-ranked clubs.

Calumet, ranked fourth in Class B, improved to 8-4 on the year with an 11-5 win over Southwest Covenant School.

The Chieftains went 13-of-32 (.406) from the plate with a double from Dalton Belcher. Hunter Arnold led the assault with a 3-of-4 effort with a run scored and two runs batted in.

Payslie Locke threw a three-inning shutout as Union City High School’s slow-pitch softball team defeated Geary 16-0.

The Tigers, ranked sixth in Class 2A, improved to 15-8 on the season.

Locke allowed three base hits but no walks and two strikeouts.

Union City’s bats were 16-of-25 (.640), led by a double from Emily Griggs as the senior went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in and two scored. Haylie McCoy, Ava DeLong, Locke, Mckinzie DeLong and Grace Derosa finished with two hits each.

Oceanna Schranz, Kaitlyn Linson and Skylar Morgan added a hit each.

Clara Peake’s eighth-place medalist effort helped Redlands Community College’s golf team place fourth overall at the 2023 Kyle Blaser Invitational, played at Gaillardia Country Club.

Peake posted rounds of 73-79-80 for a 54-hole total of 232, missing the top five by six strokes. She was 15 strokes off the winning mark of 217 by Oklahoma City University’s Maddi Kamas.