Published: August 18, 2008 02:09 pm      

Latta drops Oktaha

But Dale blanks Byng in other semifinal contest

Dale — Ryan Stoup went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Wacey Henderson had a pair of RBIs to lead the Latta Panthers into the championship game of the 2008 Dale Invitational Baseball Tournament with a 6-3 victory over the Oktaha Tigers Friday night.

The Byng Pirates fell 4-0 to the host Dale Pirates in the other semifinal. Latta played Dale for the title Saturday night while Byng faced Oktaha for third place earlier in the day.

Latta 6, Oktaha 3

Holding onto a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning, Dylan Tinkler and Henderson hit back-to-back doubles and Stoup added an RBI groundout to push the Panther lead to 5-1. That would be all the runs Latta would need as Tyler Reeves (1-0) gave up only two hits and finished with six strikeouts over four innings. Taylor Dunnigan came on in relief in the fifth and completed the game for the Panthers.

“We saw a lot better pitching today (than yesterday),” Latta head coach Eddie Collins said. “The thing of it is if we’re that erratic on the mound toward the end of the year then that’s something to be concerned about, but I don’t think we will. We pitched behind too much and threw too many pitches. We’ve also got to get out of the habit of leaving too many men on base and stop running the bases like goofballs. Those are all mistakes that we can fix, and we’ve got plenty to improve on. We’ve got a long ways to go to be good, but I’d rather win a few along the way on working to be good.”

Seth Roebuck walked to start the game, went to second on a wild pitch, third on a fly ball and eventually scored on another wild pitch for a 1-0 Latta lead. Oktaha tied the game in the bottom of the inning on an error. Henderson added an RBI fielder’s choice and Reeves an RBI walk in the second inning to give Latta a 3-1 lead. Stoup singled and scored on an error in the seventh as the Panthers moved in front 6-1. Cale Elam had a two-run double in the bottom of the inning for the Tigers.

Tinkler finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and Roebuck was 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored for Latta. Elam went 3-for-3 with two doubles for Oktaha.

Dale 4, Byng 0

Dale’s Tyler Holton threw a complete game five-hit shutout and struck out seven to lead the Pirates to the semifinal victory over Byng.

Ty Flewallen hit an RBI single to score Turner Coon in the first inning to give Dale a 1-0 lead.

Dalton Streber walked in the second inning and eventually scored on a bunt single by Dustin Sanders for a 2-0 lead.

Byng’s Ryan Williams got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third inning by striking out Holton and then getting a great play from Mason Groves at third base. Streber hit a sinking liner down the line, but Groves dove for the catch and then tagged third base for the double play.

Williams got into more trouble in the fifth inning, walking Trace Dilliner and giving up an RBI double to Mike Harris. Landon Coon eventually brought Harris home on an RBI single for a 4-0 Dale advantage.

Williams did finish with good numbers, giving up only six hits and striking out eight in five innings of work.

“I thought Ryan (Williams) threw well,” Byng head coach Charles Copeland said. “We did make some mistakes early, but he threw consistently well, stayed around the zone throwing strikes, and defensively we played pretty well behind him. Offensively, we didn’t make the adjustments we needed to produce baserunners. The Holton kid threw well for Dale. He threw strikes and kept us off balance. I think in the long run what we saw today from our pitchers will help us get better and improve for later in the fall.”

A.C. Wilson, Colton Engel, Brandon Fortner, Hendricks and Groves had singles for Byng while Flewallen finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for Dale.

Note: In Thursday’s game against Rock Creek, Byng’s Dakota Abbott threw five innings, giving up only three hits while striking out eight.