Rogers notches win No. 200 in Red Oak softball tourney victory

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports

The Red Oak Lady Hawks began their second softball tournament of the season with a little celebration.

Red Oak head softball coach Jonathan Rogers notched career win No. 200 in the team’s 10th game of the young season.

The milestone victory came Thursday morning in a revenge win against 4A No. 20 Ferris, 6-5, in the Canton ISD Invitational.

Red Oak previously fell to Ferris, 16-15, on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Over his 12-year head coaching career, Rodgers is now 200-125-6 for a 60.4 winning percentage.

Rodgers is now in his third season as the Lady Hawks skipper and entered the season with a 25-24 record while in the Red Oak dugout.

The Lady Hawks are coming off of a 2019 campaign that saw them finish with a 15-14 record after falling in the 5A Region II bi-district round to North Forney. Red Oak won game one of that series, 11-5, before falling 6-5 and 9-6 in games two and three.

Though this year’s team is on the younger side, the Lady Hawks return two key players from last year’s squad that competed for a district championship into the final week of the regular season.

Junior infielder Brianna Evans and outfielder Makyla Kelly will both be charged to help lead the Lady Hawks through the 2020 season.

Evans, the reigning 14-5A MVP, committed to Oklahoma State University during her freshman year and is currently ranked as the No. 10 prospect in the Class of 2021 by FloSoftball.

During her sophomore campaign, Evans led the Lady Hawks with 62 hits, 56 runs scored, 23 stolen bases without being caught, 14 walks, .602 batting average and .644 on-base percentage. She also finished second on the team with a .786 slugging percentage, 1.430 OPS and .444 batting average with runners in scoring position.

And she accomplished all of that while striking out just three times in 119 plate appearances.

Kelly had quite the season too, finishing as a 14-5A first-team selection.

She posted a .505 batting average, .547 OBP, .682 SLG and 1.229 OPS while scoring 49 runs and driving home 25 more across 107 at-bats.

UP NEXT

Following the three-day Canton ISD Tournament, the Lady Hawks will return home Tuesday to open District 14-5A play with a 7 p.m. first pitch against Joshua.

Red Oak and Joshua split their two 14-5A games in 2019, with the Lady Hawks winning the second, 5-3, at home. The Lady Owls won the first meeting, 15-7.

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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith

tsmith@kbec.com