Blanchard Softball

Blanchard’s fastpitch team has been sensational this year.

“So far, up to this point, our team has been clicking on all cylinders,” Lions head coach Blake Stringer says. “It has been a lot of fun seeing our girls compete, and they are a ton of fun to watch!”

The Lions appeared in the state semifinal game last year and returned several key contributors, like senior Quinlyn Johnson, a Southern Nazarene commit who stole 60 bases last season and led the team in hits and runs. Senior Kylee Coy “has been a catalyst” in Blanchard’s lineup for three years. They have helped the Lions to a 12-0 district record.

“Our team has a good mix of talented upperclassmen and talented freshmen,” Stringer says. “It is really hard to pick an unsung hero because we have had our upperclassmen step up even more, and their experience has been huge, but also, our freshmen have been big for us as well. They have always been a talented group, but they are playing like a bunch of veterans.”

For as well as they played over the season, it wasn’t clear how good the Lions were out of the gate. They dropped three of their first five games.

“After we lost three in-a-row, we went on an 18-game win streak and have now won 27 of our last 29,” Stringer says. “Our team has responded well after not starting off in the way we all had hoped to start! Teams are always going to respond and it’s just in what type of way. We responded in a positive way, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch!”

In total, the Lions have won three state championships, most recently in 2011. If it continues playing with the ferocity it has so far, Blanchard fast pitch could be eying title No. 4 this fall.