Tennessee proves over weekend they are the team to beat

By JAYSON KNIGHT Sports Editor

McALESTER — The second day of action in the 14th Sunbelt Classic saw two teams add their first losses of the competition to their records. Texas and Tennessee were the last two undefeated teams when the Tennessee team managed to maintain their position at the top.

Texas took that tough loss after winning a convincing one with Mississippi, 9-4.Other scores for Saturday were Georgia blanking Mississippi 7-0, Gold winning their first game of the series 10-6 against the Canadians, then staying on the field to conquer Colorado.

In McAlester on Saturday, Arizona started the day off by playing in the first two games and winning close calls against Canada, 5-4, and Colorado, 7-5.

Oklahoma Blue took on the Missouri team in Mike Deak’s third Sunbelt game of the day. Blue’s starting pitcher, Sawyer Bernard, registered two strike outs in the first inning, but the first Missouri hitter,Garret Stockton, was able to come home to establish a fruitful first inning for Missou.

Tight infield play by Missouri at the bottom of one helped them maintain the one-run lead to start the second inning.

And they started it right. After Jordan Dey of Missou got to first base without swinging the bat, his teammate, Wilson Pfeiffer, helped him advance to second on a grounder to the short stop. Pfeiffer was out on the play at first though.

Alex Greer sent Dey home with a double to give Missouri a 2-0 advantage without taking any outs yet in the second.

A loaded-bases-clearing double brought three more home for Missouri when Derek Haug got ahold of one in the top of the second. The Missouri squad was on the better end of a 5-0 score until they pushed the scoring streak to eight unanswered runs with a single by Ryan Phillips that brought in two runs and a walked run.

The Blue team answered with their first run in the bottom of the third and managed to tack on two more in the fourth inning. Those scores weren’t enough though.

The game was Missou’s early and they never relinquished control. The Missouri team scored at least one run in every inning with four runs scored in each of the second and fourth innings. They maintained control until the end of the fifth when the run-rule kicked in and left Blue at 0-1 on the day with an undefeated Tennessee to face later in the day.

Georgia overtook Mississippi 11-3 in the fourth game with five runs in the first inning. Mississippi’s Tyler Palmer gave a noteworthy performance with both his bat and glove. He followed up his homerun-hitting performance with a save that stopped the bleeding at just three runs during what began to look like a Mississippi scoring run.

Palmer also made a play at second base to finish the game when he quickly picthed the ball to the short stop, Nick Rau, who covered the second base bag before hurling the ball with precision to the first baseman for the double play to end the game.

Head Coach for Georgia, Paul Pierce, commented on how he’s sizing up the competition.

“Whoever we play next is the team to beat,” Coach Pierce said.

Tennessee played at both venues Saturday. They headed to Mike Deak after handing Texas their first loss in Wilburton earlier that day. After taking the field in McAlester, Tennessee gave up first blood by allowing Blue to score early on a wild pitch.

Oklahoma Blue took the lead in the top of the third with a three-run homer by Trent Lee. Sitting in the driver seat 4-3, Blue looked to have taken the momentum. That wasn’t the case as Tennessee stayed undefeated with a two-run comeback to finish the game 5-4. That was the second time that scoring margin occurred that day.

On Sunday, Canada was unable to dethrone Tennessee as the Volunteer State won out 8-5. Colorado one-upped Georgia 6-5 as well.

Oklahoma Gold got off to a consistent and strong start with two runs in each of the first two innings. Texas wasn’t shutout in the second inning like they were the first though. They managed to chalk up a couple of their own before keeping Gold off the scoreboard for the third inning.

Other games; Mossouri defeated Arizona 1-9; Mississppi 11, Oklahoma Blue 3; Tennessee 8, Canada 5; Colorado 6, Georgia 5.

Check with mcalesternews.com to get a full schedule for both venues and all teams. The Sunbelt will play every day until the placement games Wednesday. Get out there and see some of the best high school baseball featuring some of the best high school baseball players, coaches and fans from eight other states. Wilburton’s EOSC Campus and McAlester’s Mike Deak Stadium are the premier places for local baseball action this week.

Contact Jayson Knight at jknight@mcalestermnews.com

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