RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesLast season, a milestone was just out of reach for Tahlequah softball’s ace pitcher.
Zoie Griffin finished just short of 1,000 strikeouts, with 984 K’s under her belt.
Just two games into the 2026 season, the senior broke into the club in the bottom of the second inning vs. Guthrie, with a five-pitch strikeout to end that inning.
“It was so surreal, just a day to remember in my career,” Griffin said.
The future Texas A&M Aggie recorded two more strikeouts over the course of that game.
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Tahlequah’s Zoie Griffin is greeted as she walks back to the dugout after ending an inning. From left are: Raylee McCarter, Addie Davis, Griffin and Alix Kimble.
Two days later vs. Shawnee, Griffin didn’t open the game with a strikeout – quite the opposite, actually – but hit the first batter of the game. Another mistake like that didn’t happen for quite some time, as Griffin found her footing and struck out the next eight Lady Wolves.
Early in that first inning, Griffin struggled with some grip and worked some higher counts than she would have liked. However, as soon as the second inning started, Griffin worked through any first-inning hiccups.
After the second inning, Griffin retired five batters with just 17 pitches, all via strikeout.
“I had to work through a couple of high counts; it’s still getting used to the heat and how it affects me,” Griffin said. “The heat made the ball spin differently; I just had to work through it early on.”
Even though the Lady Wolves eventually broke her strikeout streak, she only allowed four balls in play through the five innings. Overall, the senior notched 13 K’s in the score book to give her 31 on the season through three games.
Griffin’s performance led the way to a 11-1 run-rule win for the Lady Tigers.
“She is just one of those blue-collar kids; she’s going to go out and attack hitters,” THS head coach Chris Ray said. “She even gave up [a run], which will happen if someone runs into one with how hard she throws, but she goes back out there and goes to work.”
Griffin did hit a batter and gave up a walk in the contest, but after four years of starting experience, those don’t really affect her. Having a next-batter-up mentality helps the eventual D1 talent stay in the zone.
“I hit a few in the beginning of the week, so I just needed to laugh it off,” Griffin said. “It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but the eight strikeouts got me back on track.”
The season is still young, but Griffin knows what her goal is by the time the final out is recorded: 300 strikeouts for the season. That goal should be attainable, since she has reached the mark every year of her high school career.
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