Worth the wait: Tuttle gets its revenge on Blanchard to capture the 4A baseball title
By Buck Ringgold | Photos by Michael Kinney
OKLAHOMA CITY - Tuttle waited nearly a full year to have a chance at redemption against Blanchard in the Class 4A state title game.
So what was a few more hours before the Tigers were able to take the field at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and finally finish the job?
In a game that was delayed exactly four hours due to several periods of rain, the Tigers finally got their revenge on the Lions. A two-run single by Carsen Moore in the bottom of the fifth put Tuttle ahead to stay, and junior pitcher Kolby Heskett made that lead stand as the Tigers held on for a 4-3 win late Saturday night.
“There’s no better feeling, no better feeling,” said Moore, a senior. “It was awesome to get them back and they’re a great ball team, a great ball club and we got them back for it.”
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It was Tuttle’s fifth state title in program history and the first since 2014. The win avenged a 6-5 loss to Blanchard exactly a year ago on Sunday, a game in which the Lions won on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh.
“There were no days off,” said senior Ashton Bennight, who had three hits in Saturday’s win. “We grinded, just for this moment to get here and play Blanchard.
“We knew we would end up playing Blanchard, that’s just how baseball works; then we came out here and did our best and it came out how we wanted it to be.”
Blanchard had erased a 2-0 deficit in the top of the fifth by scoring three runs - the last two scoring on a two-out error - to take a 3-2 advantage. But Tuttle (37-4) quickly had an answer.
Senior Alex Conover led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and moved to second on Braylon Brooks’ sacrifice bunt. Bennight came up and singled to left, with Conover going to third. Bennight then stole second while the next batter, Moore, was at the plate.
Seconds later, Moore went the opposite way and slapped a single into left center, bringing in both Conover and Bennight as Tuttle got the lead right back.
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“He threw me a curveball before and I knew I shouldn’t get away from the fastball,” Moore said. “By the glory of God, I got a hit and helped my team out. … It was awesome, it was just awesome.”
Heskett, who came on in relief of Moore during Blanchard’s three-run fifth, was able to keep the Lions at bay. Blanchard got a one-out single in the sixth but Heskett kept the runner stranded.
Then with one out in the top of the seventh, Aiden Kilgore slammed a double to deep right. But Heskett got a pop-up hit to second baseman Brady McAdoo and a grounder hit to third baseman Conover, who threw across the diamond as the Tigers were able to dogpile right before the stroke of midnight.
A dogpile that their coach actually anticipated.
"I told (Heskett) the first day of the state tournament, I’m not sure when I’m going to use you, but I’m going to use you and it’s going to be in a big moment,” Tuttle coach Breck Draper said. “Then after (Friday’s semifinal win against Elk City) we talked to him and I said, ‘Here’s your chance; you’re going to be on the mound, and we dogpile.’
“And I told him (Saturday) morning, ‘You be ready to get dogpiled on because you’re going to go in and you’re going to have a big opportunity.’”
Heskett pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win.
“He was able to mix the slider, mix the curveball, mix the change-up, mix the fastball in the zone,” Draper said. “He had some rough spots, but that’s his first time in that situation.
“He finally locked in to that mode where he’s the most accurate guy we’ve got outside of Conover about throwing the ball where he wants to, and it was special to see him (pitch).”
On offense, the Tigers had eight hits against Blanchard starter Jaxon Heard. Bennight was 3-for-3, including an RBI double in the third that gave Tuttle a 2-0 lead.
Conover went 2-for-3, and drove in the game’s first run on an RBI single in the third and eventually scored on Bennight’s double to left.
Blanchard was held to five hits, with Kobe Madron going 2-for-3. Kilgore drove in the Lions’ first run with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fifth to go along with his double.
And after the four-hour weather delay, with a lot of uncertainty about whether the game was going to be played, Draper for one was glad they were able to get it in.
“Our kids were saying, ‘We’re playing tonight, we want to play tonight, we don’t want to wait,’ and I’m glad we didn’t (wait),” Draper said. “These guys earned this celebration (Saturday) and I’m proud of them.”
