Tuttle tops Jackets 5-2 for I-40 baseball title

Tuttle’s record remained unblemished last Saturday when it handed Kingfisher a 5-2 defeat in the championship game of the I-40 Classic in Weatherford.

It was Kingfisher’s only loss in the tournament as the Jackets got a pair of run-rule victories plus a shutout in pool-play games to qualify for the title tilt.

Once there, the KHS offense never found its groove against a pair of Tigers pitchers. The Jackets collected just four hits and struck out 11 times.

The Tigers, meanwhile, were able to take advantage of some early Kingfisher miscues to plate a pair of runs in the second.

They capitalized on a hit batter, a walk, two errors and multiple passed balls and wild pitches.

Kingfisher cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth on Caleb Dick’s RBI double to score T.J. Parker.

The Jackets weren’t able to add to it and Tuttle managed two more runs in the top of the seventh.

Brady Friesen and Tate Taylor led off the bottom of the seventh by reaching base, but the Jackets were only able to turn it into one run.

Ian Daugherty drove home Friesen with a sacrifice fly.

Dick was 2 for 3 in the game and was the lone Jacket with multiple hits.

Mason Snider pitched the final five innings. He gave up six hits and struck out five.

Only one of the three runs he gave up was earned.

Cade Stephenson pitched the first two innings. Both of his runs were unearned.

Stephenson walked two and struck out two.

Stephenson belted his second home run of the season during Kingfisher’s 9-1 win over Merritt on Thursday.

The solo shot came in the bottom of the first inning.

The game ended in the fifth when Isaiah Medellin’s single scored a pair of runs to invoke the run rule.

Snider threw the first four innings to grab the win. He struck out five while surrendering one hit and an unearned run. Medellin threw a hitless fifth.

KHS collected nine hits, two each by Stephenson and Daugherty.

Both seniors also scored twice.

Parker had two RBIs and then followed those up with a gem on the mound in Kingfisher’s 7-0 victory against Clinton that night.

Parker gave up three hits while striking out eight and walking four batters.

The game was scoreless until Friesen’s single in the fourth inning scored Snider.

Tate Taylor followed it up with a two-run single and Daugherty also had an RBI hit in the breakout inning.

The Jackets had 10 hits overall as they added two runs in the fifth and another in the seventh.

Stephenson and Daugherty had two apiece. Dick and Parker also drove in a run each while Taylor scored twice.

Will Taylor’s outing on the mound against Leedey on Friday didn’t have the best beginning.

The left-hander walked the first two batters he faced, then gave up a three-run home run to Jack Puffinbarger.

But Taylor settled down and Kingfisher’s bats backed him up in a 13-3 victory in four innings.

Taylor ended his day surrendering four hits and walking six total batters, but also struck out eight.

The Jackets had the game tied before the game got to the second inning.

Daugherty helped the cause with a two-run homer, his third of the season.

The Jackets broke open the game with a five-run second as Stephenson and Daugherty delivered back-to-back RBI doubles.

Tate Barton pushed home a run with his triple and later scored on an error. Cash Slezickey, running for Daugherty, crossed home on a passed ball.

Snider, who had a two-run double in the fourth, was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored.

Daugherty also drove in three runs while Parker scored three times.

The Jackets were 7-3 overall after Saturday’s defeat.

Tuttle, meanwhile, improved its overall record to 18-0.

(Note: Look for results of Kingfisher’s district series with Purcell in the weekend edition.)