Stowe, Hughes help lift Elk City to 11-5 win over Altus
Tyler Palmateer
Daily Elk Citian
There's a different look to the Elk City High School's softball team when Toni Stowe swings the bat well.
The Elkettes' biggest innings in their 11-5 win over Altus on Tuesday were in the first and fifth innings, in which Stowe knocked in a combined four runs from her seventh-hole slot in the lineup.
"Her spot where she's at in the lineup is real crucial, because our 1-2-3 holes get on base a lot… It's very crucial," Elk City High School head coach Lindsey Mudgett said. "You can tell when she hits well by the score and when she doesn't [hit well]. She had an awesome day today and kind of came out of a slump."
After RBI doubles from Madison Hughes and Tori Schones in the top of the first, Stowe ripped an double scoring Hughes to give the Elkettes a 4-0 lead. In the top of the fifth, Stowe scored Schones, Hughes, and Mallory Luttrell with a base-clearing triple to give Elk City a 7-1 lead.
The triple transpired pretty fast, Stowe said. She barely knew it occurred.
"I didn't really know it happened," she said laughing. "When it did happen, I was really happy about it… Coach Mudgett working with us has improved my hitting a lot."
The Elkettes were well on their way to a run-rule in the top of the sixth, after Jordan Humphrey ripped a base hit to center field, scoring Stowe from second to give ECHS an 11-2 lead.
Humphrey has hit the ball well in junior varsity games, Mudgett said, which earned her the nod to play right field and get some at-bats.
"She stepped up big time," Mudgett said.
But a seemingly different Altus team showed up in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs on three well-placed hits, which included a 2-RBI double to close Elk City's lead to 11-4. Torei Morning threw well through a little more than five innings, striking out seven batters, but Hughes would come in to finish the inning and the game.
The freshman struck out a batter in the sixth, then got out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh after she hit a batter to score a run. With the bases loaded, Hughes forced two groundouts from the Lady Bulldogs to end the game.
Closing out the win and getting three hits and three RBI's earned Hughes the team's most valuable player honors for the game.
"[Hughes] had some good hits today and gut us out of a big inning," Mudgett said. "It's not easy to do that."
Elk City will play Anadarko in Weatherford this Thursday, replacing it's originally scheduled game against Riverside. Mudgett said she didn't want the team to go a full week without playing a game before taking on Weatherford in districts next Tuesday.
Stowe, who proved against Altus how important she is to the Elkettes' success, said her team is coming on at the right time. For her personally, she said concentration is key for the remainder of the season.
"We've finally picked it up at the end of the season... I need to stay focused, because we will only have one game in the next week before Weatherford."
Elk City 4 0 0 0 4 3 0 — 11
Altus 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 — 5