Oklahoma Class 4A baseball quarterfinals: Tuttle battles back to defeat Fort Gibson; Elk City shuts down Verdigris; Marlow to face Blanchard in other 4A semifinal

By Buck Ringgold

SHAWNEE — One preeminent goal for Tuttle entering Thursday's Class 4A quarterfinal was to make Fort Gibson's ace pitcher really work.

Though stymied for five innings, Tuttle finally broke through in the sixth and eventually forced Weston Rouse to not go out onto the mound in the seventh due to a high pitch count. Tuttle then broke a 4-all score with two runs in the top of the seventh as the Tigers rallied for a 6-4 win at Memorial Park.

"We were facing a mountainous challenge," Tuttle coach Breck Draper said. "Weston Rouse has one of the best arms; he had given up like eight hits all year. ... I thought our guys took the game plan and executed it; we had really good at-bats all six innings that he was in the ballgame.

"Our guys did a fantastic job of staying in our approach and having competitive at-bats and lengthening his pitch count and getting him out of the ballgame. That was our goal, to get him out of the ballgame. ... It gave us a chance to go compete a little bit more offensively."

Rouse, a junior left-hander and an Oklahoma State commit, allowed a dangerous Tuttle offense to one run over five innings as Fort Gibson's Tigers built a 3-1 advantage.

But in the top of the sixth, Tuttle (35-8) led off with back-to-back singles and eventually loaded the bases with one out when Ashton Bennight drew a walk on an eight pitch at-bat.

Then after fouling off three pitches after falling behind in the count 1-2, Ty Chaddrick worked another walk, bringing in a run. The next batter, Braylon Brooks, hit a fielder's choice grounder to bring in the runner from third, but a throwing error on the play allowed the go-ahead run to score, putting Tuttle up 4-3.

"More than anything, what our message was to just stay together with one another and keep sharing information," Draper said. "Whatever you see, relay it to your next guy, because it's a big deal helping each other see pitches. ... It was just about staying together and just digging down together and being together as far as Tuttle Tiger baseball is the most important thing in your life right now and it was to those guys."

Fort Gibson (25-7) immediately tied things in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run to left from senior Brody Rainbolt.

But Rouse had already thrown 118 pitches at that point, and due to a mandated pitch limit of 120, Fort Gibson went to the bullpen to start the seventh. Grant Edwards came in to pitch, and Tuttle pounced, getting two runners on.

Then with two outs, senior Spencer Carollo stepped up and hit a pop fly that got caught in the wind in shallow left center, with three Fort Gibson fielders going after the ball. A misplay enabled the two Tuttle runners to score.

"I played high school baseball here in Shawnee, so I know the ball goes in the air here; sometimes it swirls a little bit," Draper said.

Alex Conover, a junior who started the game on the mound opposing Rouse, then made that two-run lead stand by retiring the side in the bottom of the seventh.

"I was so proud of the way Alex pitched and how our defense played," Draper said. "Alex didn't have his breaking ball working (Thursday) and that's usually his best pitches, but he was pumping and giving our guys a chance because he's got the team mentality first and that's what it's about with this group."

Conover ended up allowing four earned runs on four hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 and ended up throwing a total of 97 pitches.

"I think I did pretty well," Conover said. "I do give a lot of credit to the infielders; they did a really good job, too.

"Let up a couple of good hits here and there, but overall I felt like I was really on top of things."

Conover also solved Rouse at the plate, going 2-for-4. Gunner Kerr also went 2-for-4.

"It was a long week for us, but we prepared really well for the velocity that we don't see that often, especially from the left side," Conover said of facing Rouse.

"So it was a long week for everybody, and just having a good mental game and repetitions early in the week. Coming out and catching a couple of barrels and getting into deep counts and getting (Rouse's) pitch count up because we knew he wanted to go as long as he could, but that was really it, just a lot from the mental side of it."

Rouse allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and struck out six.

Tuttle broke a scoreless game in the top of the third on an RBI single from Carsen Moore. Fort Gibson answered with three in the bottom of the fourth, a two-run single from Cole Mahaney followed by an RBI single from Hunter Branch.

With the win, Tuttle moves into Friday's semifinals, set for 11 a.m. in Shawnee. The Tigers will face Elk City, which upended Verdigris.

"I want to say this, Fort Gibson's a heck of a team. ... Kudos to those guys, they do things the right way, they play hard and they're relentless, too," Draper said. "We just had a good day (Thursday) and got some balls to bounce our way."

Elk City 7, Verdigris 3

The Elks' talented sophomore left-handed pitcher, Kash Mayfield, certainly did his part in helping take down a talented Verdigris squad.

Mayfield, an Oklahoma State commit, gave up just one hit in 5 2/3 innings and struck out 14 batters as Elk City moved on into Friday's 4A semifinals.

"Any time we have Kash Mayfield on the mound, it's going to give us a chance against anybody," Elk City coach Jay McClure said. "Verdigris is a great team, well-coached, and Kash went out and did what he was supposed to do and we got the sticks going there a little bit."

The offensive uprising McClure was referring to happened in the top of the third inning after Elk City trailed 1-0.

In that inning, the Elks scored five runs on just three hits. They also took a 3-1 lead when Kye Keyes drew a bases-loaded walk, and made it 5-1 when a two-out error brought in two more runs.

"Pitching was huge and Kash did amazing, but we strung hits together when it was important," said Keyes, a junior. "In the third, we scratched out five runs, which that's huge; that's insurance runs, even though we were down, but you've got to scratch."

Keyes then gave the Elks even more insurance in the fifth. With nobody out and the bases loaded, Keyes lofted a fly ball that landed on the chalk along the right-field line, bringing two runners across.

"I was afraid it was going to be foul but it was right on the line, it was close," Keyes said.

Verdigris made things interesting in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs on a pair of bases-loaded walks by Jax Ryan and Brodie Russell. At that point, Mayfield had thrown 119 pitches so he was taken out.

However, Aiden Hopper came in and got out of a bases-loaded jam to keep it a four-run Elk City lead. He also escaped another bases-loaded situation with two outs in the bottom of the seventh by getting a game-ending strikeout.

Elk City (29-9) has now won 11 of its last 12 ballgames.

"About a month ago, our sticks started coming around but the pitching's been there all year," McClure said. "Then finally, our sticks got going and that's kind of what's propelled us to this point."

One of those wins during that recent hot stretch came against Tuttle, 6-5, on April 26.

"We split with Tuttle this year, and they're a phenomenal team. ... We just hope we can go out, swing the sticks and throw strikes," McClure said.

Corey Culver went 2-for-4 in Thursday's win. He gave Elk City the lead for good during the five-run third with an RBI single, a batter after Kaden Holder's RBI double put the Elks on the board.

The Cardinals (30-5) ended up getting three hits on the day. Ryan had the lone extra-base hit, a triple, and drove in two of their three runs.

Marlow 14, Lincoln Christian 7

Through four innings of Thursday's 4A quarterfinal between two 30-win teams, both Marlow and Lincoln Christian had seven runs apiece.

But the Outlaws took control from the fifth inning on, breaking the tie with three runs and then adding four insurance runs in the top of the seventh to move into Friday's semifinals.

Marlow (31-8) will take on Blanchard in the second semifinal game Friday at Shawnee.

The Outlaws had trailed 4-1 in the second before battling back. They went in front, 7-5, after Brennan Morgan blasted a three-run homer to left in the top of the fourth.

Lincoln, however, answered in its half of the fourth on Tyler Johnson's two-run single, tying the game at 7-all.

Marlow surged back in front an inning later, as two runs scored on an error, followed by an RBI single from Will Bergner to make it 10-7.

Morgan's RBI single ignited the four-run seventh to put the game in hand for the Outlaws. A senior and Oklahoma signee, Morgan was also the winning pitcher in relief, allowing no runs on just one hit over 2 1/3 innings, striking out one.

Bergner went 4-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored. Morgan was 2-for-4 with his home run while driving in four on the night.

For the Bulldogs (30-13), Johnson went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and a run scored. Dylan Baldridge gave the Bulldogs their 4-1 second-inning lead with a three-run homer to left.

Blanchard 16, Pryor 1

The Lions dominated Thursday's 4A quarterfinal from the get-go, scoring two runs in the top of the first and adding two more runs in the second for a 4-0 lead.

Pryor made it 4-1 in the third before Blanchard scored six runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, with the game called after the fifth due to the run rule. Brennan Milligan led off the fifth with a solo home run, and Brayson Carter finished things off with a bases-loaded double, scoring all three runners.

Milligan went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. He was also the winning pitcher, throwing five complete innings and allowing four hits, striking out five.

Kale Miller was also 3-for-4 for Blanchard (33-5), scoring three times and driving in two more. Carter, Cody Lemons and Jaxon Gless each had two-hit games.

Pryor's lone RBI came from Josh Gore.