Oak Grove, back in its first title game since 2019, was simply steady Sunday in its dismantling of reigning Division-IV Non-Select champion LaSalle.
Sophomore pitcher Kinley Cox struck out 10 batters and blanked the top seed, while she and her teammatess scored in five different innings, including each of the first three, to gradually stretch out the 8-0 victory.
The championship was No. 2 Oak Grove’s first since going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 — both times also against LaSalle, which got the best of 2017 and 2021 title-game meetings.
Junior first baseman Caroline Bradley, the recent LSU women’s basketball commit and Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single, five RBIs and two runs.
Sophomore designated player Kensington Waters went 3-for-5 with a double, two singles, three RBIs and a run, and junior shortstop Avery Hankins was 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs.
Seven different Oak Grove batters contributed hits, and all nine reached base safely at least once.
The team pieced together a pair of first-inning runs with everything at its disposal: Hankins and Waters hits, a walk, a hit batter and an error.
And even when some of those free passes tightened up, the bats were able to string together hits with enough consistency to keep the runs coming.
Cox meanwhile allowed just three hits and two walks and never allowed more than four batters to come to the plate in an inning.
