Memorial’s bats booming before big week of games

A big-batted opening day helped the Memorial Lady Bulldogs compete at the Bixby Tournament this weekend after the team recorded 30 hits and 24 runs while only giving up 3 runs to their opponents during the first day of the tournament. Led at the plate by their pitching and catching duo, Mary McKey and Emerson Heron, the Lady Bulldogs had five separate batters average above .375 for the tournament. That showed on Friday, when Memorial beat Glenpool, Cushing and Edison by a combined score of 24-3. McKey and Emerson split the wins when the pair took pitching duties during that first day. Heron got wins for her appearances against Glenpool and Edison, while McKey received a win after she limited Cushing to only 3 hits during Memorial’s 3-1 victory. Memorial did stumble once during the weekend in their first game on Saturday against a good Union team. The Lady Bulldogs committed several errors at key moments in the game during their 10-0 loss, overshadowing another good outing from McKey. McKey only allowed 4 hits during the loss. Janet Chartney, head coach of Memorial, described the lone-loss of the weekend as a good learning experience for her young team. Memorial bounced back in their final game of the weekend; however, capping their strong tournament off with a 3-0 win over the hosting Bixby. The Lady Bulldogs used their big bats again, scoring 3 runs on 12 hits, but they also used a standout performance from the Memorial outfield in the win. Composed of Holly Heiner, Beth McAnally, and Bre Putnam, the outfield recorded several big catches to limit Bixby to 0 runs, and help record another win for Mary McKey. Emerson and McKey, who both recorded 2 wins during the tournament, led their team from the batter’s box. Emerson batted .583 (7-12) while Mckey batted an even .500 (7-14). Crimson Davis reached on 8 of her 17 attempts, and stole six bases during the tournament. Karsen Heron, sister to Emerson, batted 6 for 16 (.375). Chartney said she was excited with the way her young team is starting to perform. “I’m so very proud of how our team is playing and how we are working hard together,” Chartney said. “We have some very tough games coming up, but I think as long as we stay healthy we can compete with the strong teams.” Those games, which feature meetings like a Monday matchup against a good Edmond North team led by Amy Crabaugh and Kaitlyn Jones and a Thursday match against Mustang that’s being held a little way’s south, will test the resolve of the young Lady Bulldogs before they compete in the Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference Tournament this weekend at Wildhorse Park Field.

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MEMORIAL’S BATS BOOMING BEFORE BIG WEEK OF GAMES

AARON ALBERTSON

The Edmond Sun | 9/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Harmon