Sallisaw Red Sox place third in OK Kids 12U Regional
The Sallisaw Red Sox finished in third place in the 2023 OK Kids Age 12-and-Younger Sallisaw Regional Tournament, which took place Thursday and Friday at the Sallisaw Sports Complex.
The Sallisaw Red Sox finished in third place in the 2023 OK Kids Age 12-and-Younger Sallisaw Regional Tournament, which took place Thursday and Friday at the Sallisaw Sports Complex.
The Red Sox opened the tournament with a winner’s bracket semifinal 10-5 victory over the Porum Panthers, but then lost their next two games — 13-0 in the winner’s bracket final to the eventual champion Stigler Reds, then fell 15-5 to the Henryetta Express.
In Sallisaw’s win over Porum, the Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Janson Young, a wild pitch, an RBI single by Daylon Howard and a balk.
After Porum cut the deficit to 4-3 in the second inning, Jaden Rivera’s RBI triple in the bottom of the frame scored Colton Patterson for a 5-3 advantage.
After the Panthers trimmed their deficit to 5-4 in the third inning, Howard scored on a Porum error in the third inning for a 6-4 Sallisaw lead.
Rivera’s inside-the-park home run and a Porum error produced two more runs for the Red Sox to up their advantage to 8-4. After the Panthers trimmed the Sallisaw lead to 8-5, the Red Sox got a pair of fifth-inning insurance runs thanks to RBI fielder’s choices by Braxton Taylor and Justin Rivera for a 10-5 lead. For the game, Jaden Rivera was 2-for-2 with a triple, an inside-the-park homer, two runs batted in and two runs scored, Payton Young was 2-for 2 with a run scored and Janson Young was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Howard got the win as he not only started but returned to the mound as a relief pitcher. All total, he pitched four innings with five strikeouts. Janson Young pitched two innings with two Ks. In the loss to Stigler, the Red scored four runs in the first inning and once in the second inning for a 5-0 lead, then used an eight-run fourth inning to put the game into run-rule status.
The lone hit for the Red Sox was a two-out, second-inning single by Jaden Rivera.
In the tournament-ending loss to Henryetta, the Express broke a 5-all tie with a pair of five-run innings in the fourth and fifth innings to put the game into run-rule status.
In defeat, Patterson, Jaden Rivera and Justin Rivera each singled and scored once for the Red Sox.
