The Lexington slow-pitch softball team is already off to a 3-1 start and the Lady ‘Dawgs are currently ranked No. 15 in Class 4A.

Lexington started the season with its own tournament. The Lady ‘Dawgs dropped the first game of the season, 7-5, to the Lindsay Leopards last Thursday at home.

However, they bounced back with three straight victories against Riverside, Healdton and McLoud. Lexington head coach Kayla Stewart is pleased so far with her team’s performance.

“We started badly against Lindsay,” Stewart said. “We weren’t expecting that. We had limited practices before that, though. We had to get a bunch of girls back from basketball season. It should have been expected to have a rough go in our first game – just figuring things out and such.

“But, we definitely got better throughout the day. Finally, in our last game against McLoud, I finally felt we were doing some things right. Our bats started to come alive and we became a team that I recognized.”

In the loss to Class 5A Lindsay, the Lady ‘Dawgs had two hits each from Madeline Pack, Emilee Jenks, Hannah Robbins and Lindsey Barber. Pack clouted her first home run of the year and drove in two runners.

In the 16-0 win over the Riverside Lady Indians, Lexington got 20 hits while limiting Riverside to just two. 

Pack, Barber, Kaylee Fink, and Abby Turnpaugh all had three hits in the game. Pack cracked another home run and added a double to her tally.

In the 16-5 victory over the Class 3A Healdton Lady Bulldogs, Lex welcomed a 4-for-4 performance from Jenks in the leadoff spot. Robbins and Barber both contributed three hits to Lexington’s 21-hit barrage.

During a 21-10 win over the Class 5A McLoud Lady Redskins, Jenks and Sample both had three hits – with Sample going deep twice for home runs and a total of six RBIs. Madeline Pack clouted a grand slam home run in the contest. Lauren Beason went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs.

Stewart certainly seems to have kept the momentum going with her current team – a club that includes seven seniors with ample experience.

“Last fall, we made the fast-pitch state tournament,” Stewart said. “Two years ago, we made state in slow-pitch. We have seven seniors –Lauren Beason, Kaylee Fink, Emilee Jenks, Amanda Graddy, Anna Sample, Hannah Robbins and Lindsey Barber. They’ve been outstanding players and they’ve just gotten better and better for us every year. They’ve all been a part of our success.”

While the Lady ‘Dawgs are excited about this season, there is an albatross hanging around their shoulders – due to no fault of their own. It remains to be seen how the COVID-19 outbreak will affect Lexington’s season, which could be cancelled at any moment.

“We’re expecting to be in the state tournament this year and that’s our goal,” Stewart said. “Now, with all this Coronavirus stuff going around, unless our school or the OSSAA comes out with anything new, we are expecting to play our games as normal. We are just going to go on with our normal lives. We’re all hoping to continue with that.”

The Oklahoma State Board of Education has cancelled all classes and extracurricular activities until at least April 6.

On that date Lexington is scheduled to play Wynnewood and Dibble.