On Monday, March 1, 2021, the Madill Baseball team opened their season by hosting the Ada Cougars. The Cougars were hard to stop when they hit two home runs in the first inning. Licking their wounds from the loss, Head Coach Frank Thompson said there was not much time to practice. “We had only one practice with complete team due to basketball and wrestling ending this past weekend,” he said. Sophomore Ty Rushing struck out. Senior Case Coble got a hit but was out at first base and freshman Cash Coble grounded an out at second base.
The second inning allowed Ada two home runs and three runs batted in. Senior Brylee Bruster hit a ground ball. Freshman Caden McHatton, Junior Steven Sisco, and Sophomore River Shaw all struck out.
The Wildcats tried to rebound in the third inning grabbing three strikesouts back-to-back from the Cougars. However, once at the plate, the Wildcats were still scoreless. SophomoresT Andrew Ray, Rushing, and Cash Coble all struck out. Ada was scoreless in the fourth inning. Case Coble hit a fly ball but the Cougars stopped that hopeful hit by catching it. Bruster and Junior Houston Stephenson both struck out.
The fifth inning sealed the loss for the Wildcats with the Cougars hitting two home runs and five runs batted in. Freshman Caden McHatton hit a ground out. Junior Steven Sisco and Shaw struck out. The Wildcats lost 10 to 0. Thompson said obviously there were things the team did wrong, but there were also things they did right.
“I thought we competed at the plate,” Thompson said. “Defensively we made a few mistakes that we will be able to correct with time. Ada hit the ball really well. We had a good effort and our attitude is good.”
On Tuesday, March 2, the Wildcats traveled to Ada to take on the Cougars again. The Wildcats could not get settled in the first inning when Rushing, Bruster, and McHatton all struck out.
When Ada was up to bat, they scored 11 runs in the first inning. Thompson attributed that to poor pitching.
“We didn’t pitch well last night,” said Thompson. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Madill didn’t allow any runs from Ada in the second inning. Shaw, Ray, and Rushing all scored a run each for Madill. Thompson said the team is very young and inexperienced, and the only place they have to go is up.
“We are a fairly young team and are learning as we go,” Thompson said. “We are starting two freshman and beside the two freshmen, we are starting three players with very little experience.”
The Wildcats could not hold down the Cougars allowing them to make 11 more runs and Madill lost the game 22 to 3.
Thursday, March 4, found the Wildcats in Ardmore playing the Tigers and they wound up with a loss. Ardmore got two runs in the first inning and Madill had Stephenson strike out. Cash Coble got out on a pop fly and then was out on a ground ball.
The second inning was scoreless for both teams. Bruster struck out, Rushing got out at first base, and McHatton struck out.
The Tigers got one run in the third inning. Senior Griffin Williams hit a ground ball for an out. Ray got out at first base and Stephenson struck out.
The fourth inning finally got Madill on the score board with both Coble brothers and Bruster scoring a run each. Ardmore also scored three runs.
The fifth inning Ardmore scored another run. Both Coble brothers got a ground hit for an out. Bruster struck out. To close the game, the Tigers scored three more runs. Rushing hit a ground ball for an out. Sisco and McHatton both struck out.
Even thoughMadill lost the game 10 to 3, Thompson said he is hopeful for the future.
“We will be better as time goes and we are able to get some practice in to help us. Depth of the roster is also limiting us especially on the mound,” said Thompson. “The young men have a good attitude and we will get better.”