The Ada High School softball team took a couple of steps forward Friday during the 2025 Beast of the East Tournament.
The Lady Cougars notched their first win of the season — a 4-3 nail-biter over local foe Vanoss — and then battled Roff tooth-and-nail through six innings before the Lady Tigers finally secured an 18-11 win.
Roff had defeated Ada 20-3 in the Lady Cougars’ season-opener.
The Lady Cougars were without new head coach Kaylee Byrd, who was fulfilling her Oklahoma Girls Basketball Coaches Association All-State duties in Edmond. She left the Ada squad in the hands of assistant coaches Tommy Keefer and Shelby Davis.
Byrd was still thrilled with her team’s Friday performance.
“Coach Keefer and Coach Davis did a great job this weekend while I was gone for OGBCA All-State,” Byrd told The Ada News. “Slow-pitch is hard because a lot of these kids were coming out of winter sports and didn’t have a lot of time to get acclimated or practice all together. We have been telling them that they’re going to have to learn through game experiences versus practice time. They did a great job competing this weekend against great teams and I am very proud of our players and our coaches.”
Ada 4, Vanoss 3
The game was tied at 2-2 heading into what turned out to be a thrilling seventh inning.
Starla Hudson led off the top of the seventh with a single for Ada and Laila Ferree then hit into a fielder’s choice. Kaci Noble reached safely on an infield single and both runners advanced on a groundout by Ava Collins.
Edyn Keefer then delivered a clutch two-out, two RBI base hit to center field that put Ada on top 4-2.
Vanoss attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh which started with a leadoff walk by Harper Miller. Kaydence Griffin followed with a base hit.
The Lady Wolves loaded the bases on a one-out single to center field by Kylie Hatton.
Miller scored on a sacrifice fly by Vaeh Pierce to trim the Ada advantage to 4-3 but Kira Miller popped out to first base to end the game with the tying run on third.
The Lady Cougars ended up with nine total hits in the game. Keefer, Noble and Makenzi Burden all had two hits apiece. Keefer finished 2-for-4 with the two huge RBIs, Noble and Burden both went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Ariana Munoz cracked a double for the Lady Cougars.
Vanoss had four hits in the game, including a 2-for-3 effort from Griffin. Avery Wilson finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and Kylie Hatton had the other VHS hit.
Roff 18, Ada 11
This game went back and forth the entire way.
Roff jumped out to a 6-1 lead before Ada pushed across three runs in the bottom of the third inning to get within 6-4.
The Lady Tigers held a 8-4 advantage heading to the bottom of the fifth but Ada scored four times in that frame to knot the score at 8-8.
Both teams scored three runs in the sixth inning to head to the seventh tied at 11-11.
Roff then erupted for seven runs in the top of the final stanza to surge to the victory.
The Lady Cougars piled up 15 total hits in the game. Edyn Keefer finished a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and four runs scored from the top of the Ada batting order.
Arianna Munoz clubbed three doubles and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Makenzi Burden blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning and finished 2-for-3 with five RBIs and two runs scored for the Lady Cougars.
Kaci Noble went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored and Brayleigh Stephens ended up 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Eden Alexander finished 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored for Ada.
Roff collected 20 hits in the game, led by Jaycee Presley who finished 4-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. Emma Hardison and Maygan ...
