Sallisaw catcher Nick Walker tags Jay baserunner Kyle Shambaugh during the Black Diamonds” first-round loss at the Class 4A regional tournament. Walker later hit a two-run single to lift Sallisaw to a 5-4 win over Poteau in an elimination game on Thursday night. (Mike Erwin•TIMES)
The Diamonds were trailing 4-3 and down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh inning when Walker, a freshman catcher, drilled a two-run single into right field to keep Sallisaw alive in the losers’ bracket.
The victory put 13th-ranked Sallisaw (19-10) into a 2:30 p.m. Friday elimination game against the loser of Jay and Fort Gibson. No. 15-ranked Poteau, meanwhile, ended its season with a record of 22-11.
Sallisaw, which had let a four-run lead slip away in a 6-5 loss to Jay in the previous contest, saw the Pirates rally from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning.
Poteau then grabbed a 4-3 advantage in the top of the sixth on Zac Stubbs’ squeeze bunt that scored Wilson Klutts.
Sallisaw was unable to rally in the bottom of the sixth, but the top of the batting order got the Diamonds going in the seventh. David Hadley led off with a walk and Trevor Prewett singled to right field. Klutts struck out the next batter and then intentionally walked Matt Oberste. Poteau got the second out with an infield fly, bringing Walker to the plate with the bases loaded. Facing a 3-1 count, Walker hit a line drive into right field, driving in Hadley and Prewett and touching off a Sallisaw celebration.
Prewett was one of two Sallisaw batters with two hits, along with Damon Lynch. He also pitched the first five and a third innings for Sallisaw, striking out four batters and scattering six hits before Oberste took the mound in the sixth inning.
Oberste had a pair of strikeouts and allowed one hit while earning the win.
Frank Arie and Garrett Klutts both had two hits for Poteau, which threatened to take the lead in the top of the first inning. The Pirates loaded the bases, but second baseman Colton Spencer fielded a grounder to get the Diamonds out of the inning.
Sallisaw then took a 3-0 edge in the bottom of the first. Trey Wiley smacked a two-run single past the Poteau shortstop and eventually scored from third for the final run of the inning.
Poteau, which was coming off an 18-1 loss to Fort Gibson, got back in the game with two runs in the top of the third before knotting the score at 3-3 in the fifth inning.
Jay 6, Sallisaw 5
Jay pitcher Cayle Shambaugh struck out 14 batters and had the game-winning hit as the Bulldogs came from behind to edge Sallisaw in the first round of the Class 4A regional tournament on Thursday.
Shambaugh’s RBI single to right field broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. He then took the mound in the top of the seventh and finished off a complete-game seven-hitter to record the win.
Two of the hits he allowed came in the first inning as the Diamonds surged to a quick 3-0 lead. Hadley led off the game with a double and Tyler Sutherland drew a base on balls. Oberste drove them both in with a three-run shot over the fence in left center field for his 11th home run of the season.
The Sallisaw lead grew to 5-1 in the top of the third when aggressive base running by courtesy runners Dakota Petree and Jason Glover resulted in a pair of runs for the Black Diamonds.
Jay’s big inning came in the fifth, when the Bulldogs scored four runs. Casey Loomis hit a two-run single to ignite the rally.
Sallisaw had seven hits in the loss. Hadley went 2-for-3, while Prewett, Oberste, Wiley, Lynch and Dan Jacobs all had one hit each.
Wiley was the starting pitcher for Sallisaw and went five innings, striking out five and allowing five hits before Jacobs came on in the sixth inning.
