The Kingfisher Lady Jackets didn’t make firstyear head coach Tiffany Goodwin’s birthday easy.

They did, however, make it worth celebrating.

After dropping their first game of the day, the Lady Jackets rattled off three consecutive wins in the south Oklahoma heat to claim their third straight Mia Tapia Memorial Tournament championship in Pauls Valley.

“They showed a lot of fight and grit,” said Goodwin, who celebrated her 24th birthday at the ballpark.

The clincher was a 5-2 win against the host team, Kingfisher’s third showdown with Pauls Valley that day.

The Lady Panthers knocked off KHS 6-5 in a winner’s bracket game early in the afternoon.

They took advantage of two hit batters, a single, two doubles and a KHS error to plate five runs in the top of the first inning.

Kingfisher got one of those runs back when Adlee Friesen led off the bottom of the first with a homer.

It stayed 5-1 until the third when the Lady Jackets were finally able to string together some offense.

Friesen started the frame with a single and advanced to third on a throwing error. She scored on Ryan Scammahorn’s sacrifice bunt.

After Lily Voth drove home a run by reaching on an error, Callie Blair knotted up the game at 5-5 with a two-run single.

However, Pauls Valley reclaimed the lead in the fourth with a two-out single to bring home a run.

KHS couldn’t answer in the bottom half and the game ended due to the 60-minute time limit.

“That’s really short when you are playing,” Goodwin said of the time limit. “So the fact we were down by five and tied it up shows the fight they have and willingness to not give up.”

The loss put Kingfisher in a similar situation as last year when it had to win five straight games on Saturday.

This time around, KHS “only” needed to win three straight.

The first was a 5-0 win over Sulphur in an elimination game.

KHS was up 1-0 entering the third before starting off that frame with four consecutive hits.

Liliana Garramone’s double was followed by an RBI single off Friesen’s bat.

Scammahorn followed with a single and then Kendall Farrar drove in a run with a double.

KHS added two more runs in the inning and East shut the door on the Lady Bulldogs over all three innings.

She gave up just two hits and struck out five.

It was the first of three consecutive games for the senior to start.

The Sulphur win meant KHS needed to beat Pauls Valley twice for the title.

As she had done consistently to that point and would continue to do so for the remainder of the tournament, Farrar stepped up in a big way in the first rematch.

The junior went 3 for 3 with 6 RBIs as KHS hammered host Pauls Valley 14-2 in a four-inning run rule.

Farrar got her team started quickly in the matchup with a first-inning two-run homer.

That was part of a fourrun inning that also saw Blair record a two-run double.

Farrar made it 6-0 with a two-run double in the second.

She added a two-run triple in the top of the fourth.

That saw KHS put the game away with eight runs in the inning.

Friesen added a two-run double and Voth an RBI double.

East pitched all four innings, gave up just three hits and struck out three.

That left one game to decide the championship and Voth and Addison Johnson spurred another fast start.

Voth delivered a two-RBI double for a quick lead in the first inning.

One batter later, Johnson made it 4-0 with her blast over the left field wall.

Voth added another RBI in the third inning.

East got her third straight start of the day and pitched two innings. She gave up three hits, two earned runs and struck out three.

Voth finished it off over the final two frames, surrendering just one hit and striking out four.

Farrar was 2 for 2 in the game and scored twice. She was 5 for 5 with 6 RBIs and 4 runs in the final two games.

But she wasn’t just big down the stretch.

During the five games in the tournament, Farrar was 12 of 14 (.857) with five doubles, three triples, a homer, 9 RBIs and 10 runs scored.

KHS outscored its last three opponents 24-4.

“To win three straight is tough, but to win by that margin is very impressive,” Goodwin said.

KHS defeated Madill 6-0 in the opening round and then followed that up with a 4-2 victory over Dickson on Friday.

East had a big day.

The senior and Southern Nazarene University commit threw a four-inning no-hitter against Madill. She struck out six batters.

East also was 2 for 3 and drove in two runs.

Farrar had two hits, drove in a run and scored three times while Johnson was 2 for 3 and Friesen scored twice.

Kingfisher scored all of its runs against Dickson in the bottom of the second inning.

Blair, Savannah Hardison and Garramone had consecutive singles, which set up Friesen’s RBI walk.

Farrar made it 2-0 with an RBI single and then East pushed home two more with her base knock.

Dickson threatened in the fourth with three consecutive singles of its own.

Two batters later, a double made it 4-2 and the Comets still had runners at second and third with one out.

But KHS pulled off a double play to get out of the jam.

That secured the win for Voth, who gave up six hits and struck out two.

East and Blair both went 2 for 2. Blair added a run scored.

Kingfisher enters this week with a 6-2 overall record.

“These girls have the fight and the want to win,” Goodwin said. “It will be fun to see it continue to unfold as the year progresses.”