Junior slugger’s game-winning Grand Slam gives Preston thrilling win over Kellyville

Preston’s Na’Braijhanae Phillips stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh of Tuesday’s home game against Kellyville with the bases loaded and her team trailing by one, 1413, against a very tough and talented Lady Pony squad.

The Lady Pirate junior third baseman took the first delivery from the Kellyville pitcher for a strike, then watched the next two pitches fall out of the strike zone for a 2-1 count. The fourth pitch of the at-bat sailed over the plate where Phillips took a mighty swing and sent the ball sailing over the left-field wall for a game-winning, walkoff, Grand Slam home run, sending the Preston players, coaches, and fans into a frenzied celebration, and awarding the host Preston varsity slowpitch softball team the thrilling 17-14 victory.

The walkoff blast capped off a 3-for-5, 2-home run, 8-RBI, game for Phillips, who also blasted a 2-run roundtripper to left field in the sixth inning that cut the Kellyville lead to two, 14-12, with one out in the frame. The junior slugger also had a 2-run double in the bottom of the third.

The thrilling walkoff win puts the Lady Pirates, who entered the first week of rankings at No. 6 in Class 4A, at 8-3 on the year and extended their current win streak to seven games.

Prior to the thrilling win over Kellyville, the Preston ladies picked up their sixth-straight win in run-rule fashion, defeating the Eufaula Lady Ironheads by a 17-5 margin in four innings.

The Lady Pirates closed out the week at the 2-day Okmulgee Slowpitch Softball Festival with two games Thursday (5 p.m. vs Tahlequah Sequoyah and 6 p.m. vs Sperry) and two games Friday (10 a.m. vs Beggs and 12 p.m. vs Gore).

After the Okmulgee Festival, the Preston diamond squad will travel to Sperry Monday for a 3-way battle with Sperry and Chelsea and will take a short trip to Morris on Tuesday for a 3-way county showdown with Henryetta and the host Morris Lady Eagles before closing the week next Thursday at home against Sperry and Bristow and next Friday and Saturday at the annual Dewar Gumbo Classic Slowpitch Softball Festival.

In Tuesday’s run-rule win over Eufaula, the Lady Ironheads opened the scoring with four runs in the top of the first and added a fifth run in the top of the fourth.

The Lady Pirates began their scoring attack with seven in the second, then added four in the third for an 11-4 advantage. The Preston squad brought the game to a close on the run rule, 17-5, with a 6-run home half of the fourth.

Taylan Starr led the offensive attack for Preston against Eufaula, finishing 2 for 3 with a pair of home runs and 5 RBIs. Starr’s roundtrippers came on a 3-run blast in the second and a 2-run shot in the third.

Starr was joined in the multi-hit game stat sheet by Kristen Holuby (2 for 3, single, double, RBI), Josie Cope (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI), Kinlee Basquez (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI), and Olivia Beaver (2 for 2, single, double, RBI) with two hits apiece.

The final five base hits in the Lady Pirates’ 15hit total against Eufaula came on singles by Celeste Pineda and Na’Braijhanae Phillips, double by Jaiden Harley, RBI double by Caris Tecumseh, and game-ending 3-run triple by Emilie Stidman.

In Tuesday’s thrilling win over Kellyville, the visitors began the scoring with four runs in the top of the first. The Preston squad cut the deficit to one, 4-3, with three runs in the home half of the inning, then Kellyville increased its lead to 12-3 with six in the second and two in the third.

The Lady Pirates plated four runs in the bottom of the third to make it a 12-7 contest after three innings of action.

After Kellyville pushed its lead to 14-7 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, the Preston squad trimmed the deficit to one, 14-13, with a 6-run scoring spree in the last of the sixth.

The Preston defense kept the Lady Ponies off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for Phillips’ walkoff theatrics.

In the bottom of the seventh, Olivia Beaver reached on an error to begin the frame, then the Kellyville coach decided to intentionally walk leadoff hitter Taylan Starr, putting the winning run on first with no outs in the inning.

Celeste Pineda roped a single to left to load the bases and bring Phillips to the plate with the winning run in scoring position.

On the fourth pitch of her seventh-inning at-bat, Phillips delivered the memorable walkoff Grand Slam home run, giving the Lady Pirates the 17-14 decision.

While Phillips was the clear-cut Player of the Game against Kellyville, Pineda led the team in hits, finishing 4 for 5 with three singles and a double.

Kristen Holuby (3 for 4, 2 singles, home run, 3 RBIs) and Josie Cope (3 for 4, 2 singles, double, RBI) joined Phillips in the 3-hit stat sheet with Holuby kickstarting the Preston scoring with a 3-run home run in the first.

Starr also had a multi-hit game for Preston in the contest, finishing 2 for 2 with a single, home run, and 3 RBIs with the roundtripper coming on a 3-run blast in the 6-run sixth.

The final three Preston runs in the thriller came on singles by Jaiden Harley, Emilie Stidman, and Olivia Beaver.

— Preston 16, Eufaula 5

Eufaula:4-0-0-1 5- 7 -1 Preston: 0 – 7 – 4 – 6 17 – 15 – 0 WP: Josie Cope LP: Harjo HR: Eufaula: Tidwell; Preston: Taylan Starr (2) — Preston 17, Kellyville 14

Kellyville:4-6-2-0-2-0-0 14-16-3 Preston:3-0-4-0-0-6-4 17-18-2 No outs when winning run scored WP: Celeste Pineda LP: Butler HR: Kellyville: Ree, Goins, Butler, Horacek; Preston: Taylan Starr, Na’Braijhanae Phillips (2), Kristen Holuby