Anaiya Goodner slides to base during Lawton MacArthur's game against Comanche. The Highlanders fell to the Indians, 6-4, in 10 innings. Sante Fe South was a no-show for the second game of Mac's Monday doubleheader.
What started as a promising day for a season-opening doubleheader for Lawton MacArthur softball quickly turned into frustration and confusion.
After a thrilling 6-4 loss in 10 innings to visiting Comanche, the Highlanders were looking forward to welcoming district rival Sante Fe South for the second game of the afternoon on Monday, but there was only one problem -- the Saints never showed up.
First-year coach Jared Lowmiller paced alongside the gates of the softball complex, trying to get an answer for what was going on. It was not the ideal way to begin his head-coaching career, but that was the least of his worries. He just wanted his team to have the opportunity to play.
After several phone calls, he was told the opposing team was on its way from Oklahoma City, having left the school's campus at 3 p.m. -- a mere 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the contest. Considering the drive from the metroplex takes about 1.5 hours, Lowmiller knew the Highlanders could do nothing but wait.
Wanting to be lenient and understanding, Lowmiller decided to give Sante Fe South a chance instead of taking a forfeit win.
The wait wasn't all bad, though.
It gave the girls a chance to rest and eat. Smells of fresh burgers and salty fries filled the air as the Highlanders dug into their bags from Braums and Sonic.
However, the fast food deterred the team's attention for only a short time. The girl were becoming impatient and exhausted with every passing minute, and Lowmiller could see that.
He decided on a 6 p.m. deadline, but it didn't take that long for the verdict on the game to reveal itself.
What prevented Sante Fe South from making the scheduled game time wasn't a flat tire or the team simply getting lost. It was mishandling of the schedule.
The Saints did indeed send a team on its way to Lawton, but it wasn't the softball team. It was the fall baseball team.
Lowmiller said the blunder came about because of communication problems during the offseason.
"They got a new coach as well this year, and I wasn't ever able to get ahold of him this summer, so basically we weren't even on their schedule," Lowmiller said. "When we're on their schedule, I'm not sure. They thought their first softball game was tomorrow.
Lowmiller was disappointed, but he said it was probably for the best, given the circumstances.
"With how long we've had to sit here waiting, it's probably a good thing," Lowmiller said. "At game time, they would've gotten up and ready to go, but it's normally not a good thing to go play a second game with that much of a wait and just sitting around doing nothing.
"I know they started relaxing and were a little tired."
Although MacArthur lost out on a game, it got its time's worth against Comanche.
Up 4-2 through five innings, the Highlanders looked well on their way to beginning the season in the win column, but the Indians had other plans.
Facing one out with a runner on third, Hannah Powell delivered a bunt, giving her teammate just enough time to score, cutting the deficit to one run. The Indians managed another run before the end of the inning, evening things at 4-4.
The two teams went scoreless the next three innings, but both had opportunities to break the deadlock.
Indians pitcher Brooklyn Gill began showing signs of exhaustion in the seventh inning, and MacArthur took advantage.
Kennedy Fisher singled with a shot down centerfield to give the team some momentum before stealing second and third during the next two at-bats. However, Fisher was unable to make it back to home plate before the Highlanders picked up three outs.
MacArthur found itself in a similar position in the ninth inning with Logan Smith at third, but a ground out halted an otherwise promising inning for Mac.
Lowmiller said it was frustrating squandering two key chances to score.
"We got leadoff runners and second hitters on base pretty regularly," Lowmiller said. "We got them to second and wild pitches got them to third, and what makes it worse is we had the middle of our order in those spots; those are the girls we want."
Unfortunately, that was the closest the Highlanders would get to claiming victory.
MacArthur pitcher Kaegan Christian hit Gill to begin the 10th inning, and Paige Biffle and Powell achieved a pair of singles afterward, loading the bases for Comanche with no outs. Mac recorded a double-play shortly after to minimize the pressure, but it wasn't enough.
Alyssa Williams popped a hit to deep right field, but a fielding error allowed her to round second, scoring Biffle and Gill in the process to make it 6-4 in favor of Comanche. MacArthur went down in order in the bottom half to end the game.
Despite the loss, Lowmiller can already see improvement from last season's squad, which lost to the Indians, 10-0.
"We feel like we should have had that game, but at the same time, that's a team that beat us a whole lot worse last year," he said.
Lowmiller said he knows the girls are disappointed with their performance, but he said it will serve as a learning experience for how to handle tough situations and losses.
"They're going to have adversity during the year, and if they're not able to handle it, we're ultimately not going to reach the goal that we have," Lowmiller said. "This is going to be their first test to see how they bounce back."