Missouri alone atop standings

By Jeremy Higgins

With most teams in 11th Annual Junior Sunbelt Classic baseball tournament hoping for a shot at the championship on Wednesday, some other teams are playing for pride and to stay out of the cellar. The two teams finding the competition most difficult faced off on Monday with Oklahoma Blue getting its first win of the tournament.

Oklahoma Blue played a tight game against Ontario, Canada in the night-cap Monday, winning 2-1.

A solo homerun by Edmond Memorial’s Aaron Trent gave Blue a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Team Canada tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning when Cameron Graham walked and eventually scored on a double by Sean Bignall.

Oklahoma Blue took a 2-1 advantage in the sixth inning when McAlester’s Justin Klusak walked to lead off the inning and score on a single by Moore’s Billy Balak.

The low-scoring contest was highlighted by some key defensive plays. McAlester’s Chad Barnett made a highlight-reel diving stab for the first out of the fourth inning for Oklahoma Blue. In the bottom of the sixth, with Oklahoma leading 2-1, leftfielder Colton Elledge of Edmond North fielded a fly ball and then gunned down the potential tying run at home plate.

Team Missouri ended Monday with a 6-1 record and stood alone in first place. The team from “The Show Me State” was involved in the highest scoring game of the touranment against the big bats from Team Texas.

Texas and Missouri combined for 33 hits in the seven-inning game and scored a combined total of 28 runs. When the dust settled, Missouri was on top of the scoring frenzy, 16-12, and atop the tournament standings.

In other games Monday, Missouri topped California 9-8, California downed Canada 10-7, Oklahoma Gold got its second win of the tournament, 11-10 over Georgia, Tennessee defeated Oklahoma Gold 13-5, Tennessee beat Mississippi 6-5, Texas topped Georgia 8-7 and Arizona downed Mississippi 9-5.

For Tuesday’s results and a preview of Wednesday’s championship game, read Wednesday’s edition of the News-Capital.

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