Published: August 17, 2009 01:47 pm      

Oktaha edges Latta in Dale

DALE — With ace righthander Tyler Reeves nursing a sore hamstring, the Latta Panthers weren’t able to put their best foot forward in Saturday’s championship showdown with unbeaten Oktaha at the Dale Invitational. But they weren’t exactly stepped on, either.

While Oktaha — coming off a 16-3 semifinal thrashing of Rattan Friday — threw senior ace Cale Elam, Latta coach Eddie Collins countered with junior jack-of-all-trades Dylan Tinkler, who landed in a tough spot in his first varsity start on the mound. When Tinkler pitched to contact, he was effective, but a bout of wildness in the first inning handed the Tigers the lead for good at 2-0, and the only ball they got out of the infield in Tinkler’s three innings was a two-run homer by Shane Leach in the third inning that made it 4-0.

When the game ended, the Panther had outhit Oktaha, 6-3, but they finished on the short end of a 5-2 final to fall to 2-1 on the young season. In Saturday’s other game involving a local team, Rock Creek rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge Byng, 6-5, for the consolation championship.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Oktaha 5, Latta 2

“There are things we obviously need to get better at, and we need to get some people healthy,” Collins said. “We have to remember that we can’t make three errors and walk people and beat good teams.”

Elam, who has verbally committed to attend Wichita State on a baseball scholarship next year, showed the Panthers a fastball in the low 90s early in the game, and he was around the plate all night — but not with his heater. The lanky righthander threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 30 batters he faced, and in just about every case that first pitch was a breaking pitch of some sort.

“I guess we’re just not ready to hit curve balls,” Collins said. “We had some opportunities, but (Elam) strands a lot of baserunners.”

Latta didn’t get its first baserunner until the third, when Wacey Henderson hit a line drive that glanced off Elam’s backside and caromed into center field for a single. Tinkler erased Henderson at second on a fielder’s choice ground ball back to the mound and scored the Panthers’ first run on the only Oktaha error of the game later in the inning.

By that time, though, Elam had all the run support he needed.

The Tigers put together an ugly two-run rally in the first without benefit of a hit — on two walks, a passed ball and three wild pitches — and doubled their lead in the fourth when Tinkler walked Elam for the second time in the game then hung a 1-2 breaking pitch to Leach, who lifted it into a stiff breeze that helped it barely clear the left field fence.

Reeves, who hadn’t pitched in more than two months, took the mound to start the fourth and struck out two while allowing two hits — the second one Leach’s second home run of the game — in two innings of work. The run was unearned, because Tinkler — who moved to shortstop when Reeves came in to pitch — dropped a foul pop near third base. Two pitches later, Leach capped a sensational 10-pitch at-bat (in which he was once behind 1-2) with a shot over the fence in left-center for Oktaha’s final run of the game.

Latta had runners in scoring position in each of the last three innings but couldn’t break through against Elam again until the seventh. Taylor Dunigan, who pitched the top of the sixth and worked a scoreless inning for the third time in Latta’s three tournament games, led off with a double to wall in left-center, and he was replaced on the bases by pinch runner Garrett Taylor.

Elam came back to retire Bryce Harris on a fly ball to left and to strike out Salyer Roebuck on a 2-2 breaking pitch, but he caught too much of the plate on a 1-2 fastball to Henderson, who ripped it to left-center for Latta’s second double in the inning to score Taylor with the game’s final run. Tinkler then drew a walk, but Seyth Roebuck — who had already singled twice in the game — grounded out to first for the final out.

Other than the two hits apiece from Henderson and Seyth Roebuck and Dunnigan’s double in the seventh, Latta’s only other hit was a bunt single by Salyer Roebuck in the fifth. The hit came with one out and Dunnigan at first after a leadoff walk, but Elam came back to strike out Henderson on three breaking pitches and retire Tinkler on a fly ball to center to end that threat.

Latta returns to action Monday, facing Stuart and Class B power Red Oak at the Stuart Festival.

CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP

Rock Creek 6, Byng 5

The Pirates, who bounced back from an 8-0 loss to Latta Thursday to thrash Wanette on Friday, carried a 5-4 lead to the bottom of the seventh. But the Mustangs used a leadoff single by Les Shumake, a pair of Byng errors, a two-out walk and a walkoff RBI single by winning pitcher Kodi From to steal the victory.

Byng took a 3-0 lead in the first on a leadoff single by Jake Scroggins, a two-out balk to Chaise Haley and Ryan Williams’ three-run homer, then Rock Creek scored a run in the second on an RBI single by Tracy Hickman and took the lead with three runs in the fourth, again with the help of two errors by the Pirates. The rally also featured RBI singles by From and Shumake.

Byng came back to regain the lead with a two-run sixth-inning rally fueled by two of Rock Creek’s three errors in the game.

Williams had two of Byng’s five hits in the loss, while Shumake and From had two hits apiece to key Rock Creek’s six-hit attack.

Byng will travel to Rock Creek for a rematch at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, then the Pirates will be in the field at the Stonewall Invitational Thursday through Saturday.