Pryor has been much better this season than it was last year at this point.

The Tigers are off to a 5-3 start under head coach Chell Looney and have won their last three outings each via a shutout. They completed play in the Broken Arrow Tournament with 6-0 win over Tahlequah-Sequoyah on Aug. 12, and more recently put together back-to-back 16-0 wins over Bishop Kelley to open District 5A-3 play.

“We have started the season pretty well and have had good senior leadership,” Looney said. “Last year at this time we were 2-6. We need to keep working hard and improving every day to be where we want to be in the end. We have to develop more consistency, and we are confident we will throughout the season.”

Seniors that have contributed include Arystan Buchanan, Brooklyn Stohler, Adriana Donnelly, Kayda Wolfe and Sam Saucedo.

“They are our seniors and have all contributed,” said Looney, whose team started the season with consecutive losses to Class 5A powerhouses Carl Albert and Piedmont, who have combined to win five of the last six state championships.

Stohler, a Pittsburg State commit, has bolstered the Tigers from the pitcher’s circle. In her fourth year as starter, Stohler has posted a 1.20 earned run average and has tallied 58 strikeouts across 38 innings. Offensively, she’s hitting .400. The VYPE Top 100 selection recorded 338 strikeouts in 181 innings and had an 0.87 ERA as a junior.

Others who have stood out early in the season are Donnelly, junior third baseman Kenzie Bennett and freshman shortstop McKenna Yancey. Another freshman, Lillie Moore, has also impressed Looney.

Some of our freshmen, McKenna Yancey and Lillie Moore are doing better offensively than we expected them to early in the year,” Looney said.

Donnelly currently has an on-base percentage of .593 and has eight runs scored. Bennett is hitting .450 and has a .542 on-base percentage, and Yancey has a .385 batting average with a .579 on-base percentage.