|
|
|
PITTSBURG —
Near the halfway point of its game Friday morning with the Tulsa Oilers, Pittsburg Post 64 held a 1-0 lead and starting pitcher Matt Standlee had dispatched four Oilers via strikeouts, allowing only two hits and in veritable command of the game.
Then, everything changed, drastically changed, in the top of the fourth inning and the Tulsa Oilers drilled Post 64 8-1 at JayCee Ballpark.
Tulsa Oilers No. 2 hitter Scott Cooper — who accounted for the first hit of the game in the first — led off the fourth against Standlee and found an offering to his liking, depositing a hard-hit ball into the right-center gap.
Cooper decided to go for a triple and one good throw may have cut down Cooper at third but right fielder Bryce Burdette short-hopped cut-off man Nate George and George short-hopped third baseman Brett Macary. The ball scooted away from both Macary and pitcher Matt Standlee into the Oilers dugout and Cooper was signaled home by the home plate umpire.
The Oilers scored three in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh and Post 64 left at least one runner on base in 6 of 7 innings.
“It was a game of missed opportunities for us and they took advantage,” Post 64 head coach Mike Watt said. “I didn’t feel like we competed real well late mentally.
Physically, I feel like we’re doing OK but mentally, we’ve just been flat the last few days and hopefully we’ll work out of it. We’ve got to be a team that competes when things are going bad too, not just when everything’s going our way.”
For three straight innings, Post 64 left two runners on in every frame.
In the third, Post 64 scored its only run on a RBI single by Sam Gilbert but Macary and Gilbert were stranded at first and third.
In the fourth, Standlee reached on an error and Vail reached on an infield single only to be stranded at second and third with one down.
In the fifth, Burdette reached on another error and Gilbert singled but, again, Post 64 could not push across runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Post 64 left nine runners on base, seven in scoring position.
“We had a lot of opportunities early,” Watt said. “We left a lot of runners on base and we didn’t come up with any big hits early. It was a very good game through three or four innings and I felt like their hitters did a very good job of adjusting to our pitcher. He (Standlee) was working away and they moved in on the plate and started hitting the ball to the right side and made things happen. We just didn’t come through with the big hit early to build a lead at all. We’re two or three hits away from being up 6-0. Again, we just didn’t get it done and we need to be more competitive in those situations.”
Near the halfway point of its game Friday morning with the Tulsa Oilers, Pittsburg Post 64 held a 1-0 lead and starting pitcher Matt Standlee had dispatched four Oilers via strikeouts, allowing only two hits and in veritable command of the game.
Then, everything changed, drastically changed, in the top of the fourth inning and the Tulsa Oilers drilled Post 64 8-1 at JayCee Ballpark.
Tulsa Oilers No. 2 hitter Scott Cooper — who accounted for the first hit of the game in the first — led off the fourth against Standlee and found an offering to his liking, depositing a hard-hit ball into the right-center gap.
Cooper decided to go for a triple and one good throw may have cut down Cooper at third but right fielder Bryce Burdette short-hopped cut-off man Nate George and George short-hopped third baseman Brett Macary. The ball scooted away from both Macary and pitcher Matt Standlee into the Oilers dugout and Cooper was signaled home by the home plate umpire.
The Oilers scored three in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh and Post 64 left at least one runner on base in 6 of 7 innings.
“It was a game of missed opportunities for us and they took advantage,” Post 64 head coach Mike Watt said. “I didn’t feel like we competed real well late mentally.
Physically, I feel like we’re doing OK but mentally, we’ve just been flat the last few days and hopefully we’ll work out of it. We’ve got to be a team that competes when things are going bad too, not just when everything’s going our way.”
For three straight innings, Post 64 left two runners on in every frame.
In the third, Post 64 scored its only run on a RBI single by Sam Gilbert but Macary and Gilbert were stranded at first and third.
In the fourth, Standlee reached on an error and Vail reached on an infield single only to be stranded at second and third with one down.
In the fifth, Burdette reached on another error and Gilbert singled but, again, Post 64 could not push across runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Post 64 left nine runners on base, seven in scoring position.
“We had a lot of opportunities early,” Watt said. “We left a lot of runners on base and we didn’t come up with any big hits early. It was a very good game through three or four innings and I felt like their hitters did a very good job of adjusting to our pitcher. He (Standlee) was working away and they moved in on the plate and started hitting the ball to the right side and made things happen. We just didn’t come through with the big hit early to build a lead at all. We’re two or three hits away from being up 6-0. Again, we just didn’t get it done and we need to be more competitive in those situations.”
The Oilers came through with several extra-base hits —a triple by Cooper and a double by Chas Stallard in the fourth, a double by Pake Wise in the fifth, a two-run home run by Chase Terrell and a double by Zach Cordell in the sixth.
Alex Hackerott, a left-handed pitcher who committed to play collegiately at Oklahoma State, played designated hitter on Friday and went 1-for-4 with a strikeout, a single, a popout to first and a lineout to third.
The Cowboys finished with a 32-25 record in 2012 and recently hired OSU alum Josh Holliday (older brother of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday) as their new head coach; All-American pitcher Andrew Heaney was selected with the ninth overall pick by the Miami Marlins in the MLB Draft.
Hackerott, Cooper and Cordell played together at Page High School (Class 6A) in Sand Springs, members of the Sandites baseball team.
Post 64 (10-3) plays its fourth game in three days tonight against Lawrence Free State.
Pittsburg Legion/Fort Scott Community College Classic
Tulsa Oilers 8, Pittsburg Post 64 1
OILERS 000 312 2 — 8 10 2
POST 64 001 000 0 — 1 7 2
Nathan Boyd, Derek Soles (6) and Derek Fisher. Matt Standlee, Nick George (6) and Dylan Gromer. WP: Boyd. LP: Standlee. 2B: Chas Stallard, Pake Wise, Zach Cordell. 3B: Scott Cooper. HR: Chase Terrell. SB: Cooper; Bryce Burdette, Standlee, Sam Gilbert, Nate Grimaldi. CS: Cooper. LOB: OILERS 4, POST 64 9.
Pittsburg Legion/Fort Scott CC Classic schedule
Today
Johnson County Hornets vs. Nebraska Sluggers (2), 9 a.m.
Butler County Cubs vs. Tulsa Tide, 11:15 a.m.
Lawrence Lions vs. Kansas Crush, 1:30 p.m.
Tulsa Oilers vs. Nebraska Sluggers (1), 3:45 p.m.
Butler County vs. Nebraska Sluggers (1), 6 p.m.
Lawrence Free State vs. Pittsburg Post 64, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday
Butler County vs. Nebraska Sluggers (2), 9 a.m.
Lawrence Lions vs. Tulsa Oilers, 11:15 a.m.
Lawrence Free State vs. Tulsa Tide, 1:30 p.m.
Johnson County vs. Lawrence Lions, 3:45 p.m.
Kansas Crush vs. Lawrence Free State, 6 p.m.
Johnson County vs. Kansas Crush, 8:15 p.m.
