Southmoore caps unlikely road to 6A state title by downing defending champion Edmond Memorial
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA - Jason Lingo has been through almost every situation imaginable during his tenure at Southmoore.
From his days as an assistant coach to taking the head fast pitch job, he has helped guide the program to seven combined (fast pitch and slow pitch) championships.
However, what Lingo witnessed Saturday night at the University of Oklahoma had the veteran skipper in tears. He watched what may have been the most unlikely SaberCats' squad in the program’s history knock off defending champion Edmond Memorial, 2-1, to win the Class 6A state fast pitch championship.
“We don't have a bunch of (Division I) and (Division II) kids running around out there,” an emotional Lingo said. “We just have a bunch of really good kids and those kids just won a state championship. We're proud.”
With the score tied 1-all in the bottom of the seventh inning, Southmoore came to bat. Up to that point in the game, they had only been able to manage a single hit through six innings off Edmond Memorial’s Keegan Baker.
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“What's going through my mind is how are we tied with only having one hit so far in the game? I thought if we can just calm down and understand that Keegan Baker will provide the power for us,” Lingo said. “She throws it so hard. So if we'll just put some quality swings, it'll get in the green.”
And that’s what the SaberCats did. Lainey King started the inning with a single. After an out by Kaylee Carter, Ryen Bullock and Olyvia Smith each collected singles.
That brought Karissa Reddout, the team’s backup pitcher, to the plate with the bases loaded. The sophomore had a rough at-bat in her previous plate appearance and was feeling the pressure of the moment that was on her.
She said she was so scared that she went to a teammate and remarked she didn’t know what to do.
“Before that at bat, I was terrified,” Reddout said. “I wanted to just get a base hit. As a matter of fact, I started tearing up in the box.
"I wanted to prove something because I've been doubted by a lot of people in this game because my attitude wasn't the best. After I struck out earlier, I just sat on the bench and I was like, I need to clean this up.”
Reddout was able to calm herself down enough to deliver a clutch base hit that brought home pinch runner Katie Seaton to win the game and handed the SaberCats their fifth fast pitch title and their third in the last four years.
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“Karissa is a young kid who's come on these last six weeks like everybody else, and she's earned her stripes this year,” Lingo said.
For Reddout, being able to come through for her team after the journey they had been on the entire season was special.
“It just says that we worked really hard throughout the season and that we paid it off,” Reddout said. “We paid off and Lingo helped us through all the way.”
Just to get to the final game, Southmoore (24-12) had to go on the road and win a regional championship at Norman North. They arrived at the state tournament with the worst record of any of the eight competing teams.
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Southmoore then beat rival Moore, 5-3, in the opening round. The Lions were the same team that had beaten the Sabercats twice during the regular season by a combined score of 12-1.
But none of that mattered when the postseason arrived. By then, it was a different Southmoore squad everyone had to contend with.
“We may not be the best team in the state,” Lingo said, “but we were (Saturday).”
Southmoore players swarm one another after the SaberCats pulled off a 2-1 win against Edmond Memorial in the 6A championship game on Oct. 14, 2023.
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
