When the Sallisaw Cowboys opened the 2023 OK Kids State Tournament at the Sallisaw Sports Complex last week, they suffered an 18-0 loss to the Anadarko Warriors. As fate would have it, the Cowboys just so happened to get another crack at the same Warriors in Thursday night’s loser’s-bracket semifinals.

The good news was the Cowboys actually dented the scoreboard — to the tune of 15 runs, thanks to a nine-run fourth inning. Unfortunately, as was the case in the state-tournament opener, the Warriors once again scored more runs than they did as the season ended for the Cowboys with a 24-15 setback.

The Cowboys trailed from start to finish, but they made things interesting in the fourth inning.

After the Warriors struck for four runs in the opening inning, the Cowboys responded with two runs in their half of the frame thanks to RBI singles by Hudson Hicks and Calvin Kilpatrick to cut the Sallisaw deficit to 4-2 after an inning.

The Warriors were determined to win this game by the same method as in their state tournament opener against the Cowboys — winning by run-rule. Anadarko scored six runs in the second inning and seven runs in the third to take a 17-2 lead.

The Cowboys started their comeback in their half of the third inning as RBI singles by Kilpatrick, Rider Henson, a bases-loaded walk to Braxton Fuller and an RBI fielder’s choice by Brody Fields cut the Anadarko lead to 17-6, setting up the nine-run outburst the next inning for the locals.

In that nine-run fourth inning, the Cowboys sent 13 batters to the plate. The nine runs were produced on an RBI single by Hicks, a RBI double by Kilpatrick, a steal of home by Henson, a two-RBI single by Fields, a two-run double by Tanner Plank, an RBI double by Hicks in his second at-bat in the inning, an RBI double by Boston Green and an Anadarko error. When the dust settled on the inning, the Cowboys found themselves down the same number of runs s after the opening inning — two runs, trailing 17-15.

However, any momentum the Cowboys got with their nine-run outburst was quickly taken right back by the Warriors, who responded with a seven-run fifth inning to take a 24-15 lead.

In defeat, Hicks was 4-for-4 with two doubles, three runs batted in and four runs scored, Plank was 4-for-5 with two doubles, four runs scored and an RBI, Green was 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored, Henson was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Kilpatrick was 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Kobe Johnson took the loss.

CORRECTION

In Friday’s edition, a Sallisaw Cowboys player had his wrong first name listed in the story. The paragraph should have read: “In the victory over Stigler, the Cowboys jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening inning, thanks to an RBI single by Hudson Hicks, a bases-loaded walk to Kilpatrick, an RBI single by Kobe Johnson and a bases-loaded walk by Brody Fields.” Your TIMES regrets the error.