Three teams remain undefeated in Sunbelt

Unbeaten | Texas, Colorado and Tennessee went 2-0 on Day 1

By JAYSON KNIGHT Sports Editor

McALESTER — The crowd was belted by the sun at Mike Deak Stadium on opening day of the Junior Sunbelt Classic held in McAlester.

The first two games in McAlester saw Georgia earn a lead over Tennessee before an eventual 10-8 comeback victory for The Volunteer State.

Georgia stayed on the field to take on Canada after letting the last one slip away. They didn’t hang their heads for long though as they quickly racked up runs and kept a circle on the scoreboard for Canada until the run-rule kicked in.

Tennessee and Missouri competed in the third game of the day Friday in McAlester.

The Tennessee team earned a commanding 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third. Kody Pruitt was walked to load the bases for the Missouri team with just one out against Missouri’s squad. Unfortunately for the Missou team, a double play on the next hit retired the side and took the second-inning comeback opportunity away.

In the bottom of the third, Michael Young of Missouri made an outstanding catch for a flyout in right field. He also almost threw out the runner trying to make it back to first base. With one out against Tennessee, one of their runners, Jared Allen, came across the plate to give Tennessee a four-run lead. A patient, precise throw by Daniel Seddon to first base was good to finish the inning with Tennessee up 5-1.

Missou doubled their score to two on an RBI by Justin Zimmerman in the top of the fourth. That was the last run the Missou squad turned in as Tennessee mounted a heavy aerial assault.

The Tennessee offense included a solo shot home run by the first batter up in the bottom of the fifth, Zander Wiel. Craig Caufield shrugged off being hit by a pitch to eventually come home for the Tennessee team. The dagger was sunk to the hilt when Tucker Tubbs smashed a three-run homer out of the park to run-rule the Missouri squad.

Missouri had a tough day after losing a tough game to the dark horse Colorado, a state that wasn’t represented last year in the Classic.

Tennessee Head Coach Chris Parker commented after the game on his team’s play.

“Our players came out and played real hard. This is their first time playing together and they responded to the challenge like Tennesseeans,” the coach said.

Assistant coach for the Tennessee team, Mark Pickle, commented on the competition and what his goals for the rest of the competition are.

“We’re off to a good start winning our first two. Georgia was a really good team and we were fortunate to get a win,” Pickle said. “We hope to keep it rolling tomorrow, because we have to keep playing well.”

After the game, a house parent, Jerry Strickland spoke about the experience of housing one of these premier ballplayers.

“I don’t mind it at all. Ever since my kids grew up, we started hosting Sunbelt kids and I have a great time hanging out with them. We learn stuff from each other. It’s really a blast,” the house dad for three Missou players. He and his family have hosted “several” times according to Strickland and said that they hosted four players last year.

“We’ll take as many as they throw at us,” the house dad laughed.

The Oklahoma Gold team took on Arizona next and it had a cliffhanger moment where either team could have turned the tide.

Casey Thomas of Arizona was the lead-off hitter for a reason, getting a double to begin the game. He stole his way to third before a bounced pitch by Oklahoma Gold put runners on the corners at first and third.

Thomas was able to break ground in the scoring department when he crossed home.

An audible hit by Cole Gleeson of Arizona wasn’t enough to get him on base.

A sacrificial RBI by Jordan Dunatov brought in his Arizona teammate, Zach Davies. The top of one ended 2-0 Arizona.

A fly out caught by Arizona was followed by a pair of strike outs thrown by Gleeson in the bottom of the first. Three up, three down as Arizona picked up the sticks.

The highlight of the top of the second inning was Dylan Wilson, playing first base for the Gold, having to do the splits to beat an Arizona runner to first.

Shane Bay of the Gold was walked after making great contact on a foul ball in the bottom of the second. Some slick pinch running was negated as Arizona tightened up the D and finished the second inning the way it began, 2-0.

Drew Shankiewicz started the third inning with a single, but took a risk trying to steal second and paid with an out.

Thomas got on base again in the third after watching three balls and a strike go by before finally swinging and synching up a double. He crossed home after a double by Tyler Crawford. He came in when Gleeson swung for a double. Michael Howard stole third base pinch running, but never made it home due to a strikeout.

Arizona threw two more runs on the scoreboard and the third inning was going just great for them. That’s when the bottom of the third happened. Gleeson started the bottom of the third with a strikeout before beaming Grant Wendel of Gold. His teammate, Shawn Hendricks, got on base with a single but Wendel was forced out at third base.

The bases were loaded when Gold’s Bay loaded the bases with a single. Kyle Fultz was walked which was good for one run. Kyle Lacy was also walked for a score. A double by Drew Arnold brought in three runners for the Gold team as they took the lead after being blanked up until that inning. The third inning ended with a 5-4 Oklahoma Gold lead.

The top of the fourth saw the return of Thomas. Thomas drove in Shankiewicz with a well-placed shot into center-left field. That was the run that put Arizona up by one, 6-5, to end the top of the fourth, but like the announcer, Lance McAfee said, “The damage ha[d] been done.”

Sadly for the Gold team, the Arizonans put on a clinic with precise shots to the most spacious areas of the field on their way to a 14-5 thumping.

Wilburton’s EOSC baseball stadium’s scores on the day were Colorado’s emergence into the Sunbelt over Missouri 7-1; Texas routing Arizona 4-1; Colorado getting the best of Mississippi, 8-6; and Oklahoma Blue starting the competition with a 1-1 record after getting more than doubled by Texas, 11-5; but making Canada pay for it by more than tripling them, 7-2.

Action continues today and through Wednesday, every day. The action is non-stop, everybody plays to win and the ambiance is sunflower seeds, hot dogs, and good, old-fashioned baseball.

For a full schedule for both venues, head to mcalesternews.com and search Sunbelt.

Contact Jayson Knight at jknight@mcalesternews.com

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