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News
September 13, 2023
Pirates finish runner-up at Stuart Tournament
By LARRY OWEN SPORTS EDITOR,

The Preston Pirate varsity fall baseball team came away with a runner-up finish at the Stuart Baseball Tournament this past Saturday with a 5-3 loss to the Ripley Warriors.

The Preston Pirate varsity fall baseball team came away with a runner-up finish at the Stuart Baseball Tournament this past Saturday with a 5-3 loss to the Ripley Warriors.

The second-place finish puts the Preston squad at 16-2 on the season, heading into Monday’s home game against Kiowa. The Pirates were also in action Tuesday at LeFlore and are scheduled to compete at the Amber- Pocasset Festival this weekend, battling Arapaho-Butler at 7:15 p.m. on Friday and the host Amber-Pocasset Panthers at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The Preston squad opened tournament play last Thursday with a 13-4 victory over the Ripley JV, then punched their ticket to the tournament finals with an 11-3 win over Stonewall in last Friday’s semifinal contest.

Ripley reached the title game with wins over Kiowa (10-4) and Stuart (8-4), respectively.

In last Thursday’s opening-round win over the Ripley JV, the Pirates led by a 5-3 margin after the first inning of action. After a scoreless second and top of third, the Preston squad plated three runs in the bottom of the third to extend the Pirates’ lead to five, 8-3.

After the Ripley JV made it an 8-4 contest with a run in the top of the fourth, the Pirates put the finishing touches on their run-rule win with five runs in the last of the inning.

The top hitters for the Preston offense was the duo of Jayden Herring (2 for 4, single, double) and Kaden Dean (2 for 4, single, double, 3 RBIs) with two hits apiece.

The other Pirate base hits in the tournament opener came on a single by Luke Hankins, double by Bradley Winford, RBI single by Kellen Dean, RBI double by Hunter McElhannon, 2-run single by Dustin Dunlap, and 2-run triple by Braxton Kennedy.

Other Preston baserunners against the Ripley JV were Herring (fielder’s choice), Hankins (walk), Winford (2 walks, RBI), McElhannon (2 walks, RBI), Kennedy (walk), Dunlap (error), Waylon Cope (hit by pitch), and Easton Shaw (2 walks).

Kennedy was awarded the pitching win for Preston, giving up one run on two hits with two walks and one strikeout in three innings of relief work.

Kennedy entered out of the bullpen at the start of the second, taking over the pitching duties for starter Pepper Gallup, who allowed three runs on two hits, striking out one, walking one, and hitting two in one inning of work.

In Friday’s semifinal battle with Stonewall, the Longhorns opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first. The Pirates plated a pair of runs in the first two frames for a 4-1 advantage, then outscored Stonewall 6-2 in the third for a 10-3 lead after three innings of action.

After the Pirates made it an 11-3 contest with a run in the home half of the fourth, the Preston defense kept the Longhorns off the scoreboard in the top of the fifth to walk away with the 11-3 decision and earning a spot in the tournament title game.

Kaden Dean (2 for 3, 2 singles, 2 RBIs) and Dustin Dunlap (2 for 3, 2 singles, RBI) were the top hitters for Preston against Stonewall with two hits apiece.

The other Pirate base hits in the semifinal win came on a single by Jayden Herring, RBI single by Braxton Kennedy, RBI double by Luke Hankins, and 2-run singles by Kellen Dean and Easton Shaw.

Other Preston baserunners against Stonewall were Herring (2 walks), Hankins (walk, 2 hit by pitches), Shaw (2 walks), Kaden Dean (error), Kellen Dean (walk, hit by pitch), Bradley Winford (walk, hit by pitch), and Hunter McElhannon (fielder’s choice). Kaden Dean drove in one of the six Preston runs in the third with an RBI sacrifice fly.

McElhannon went the distance on the mound for Preston to earn the pitching win, allowing three runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts in five innings of work.

In Saturday’s title game, the Pirates broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the fourth. Ripley countered with a run in the home half of the frame to deadlock the score at 1-1 after four innings of action.

The Preston squad regained the lead at 2-1 with a run in the top of the fifth then added a run in the top of the sixth for a 3-1 advantage.

Ripley took over the lead with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, then the Pirates were unable to overcome the 2-run deficit in the top of the seventh to suffer the 5-3 setback and the runner-up finish.

The Preston offense was led by the duo of Luke Hankins (2 for 4, single, double) and Kellen Dean (2 for 3, 2 singles, RBI) with two hits apiece.

The other four Pirate base hits against Ripley came on singles by Kaden Dean and Easton Shaw and doubles by Bradley Winford and Braxton Kennedy.

Other Preston baserunners in the title game were Shaw (walk, hit by pitch), Jayden Herring (2 walks, hit by pitch), Kaden Dean (walk), Kellen Dean (walk), and Hunter McElhannon (2 walks).

Winford drove in the first Preston run of the contest with an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth, while McElhannon drove in the Pirates’ final run with an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Shaw was saddled with the pitching loss for Preston, allowing five runs on nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts in five and one-third innings of work.

Kaden Dean walked two and struck out one in his two-thirds of an inning of relief work for the Pirates.

--- Stuart Tournament First Round

Preston 13, Ripley JV 4

RipleyJV:3-0-0-1 4-4-1 Preston: 5 - 0 - 3 - 5 13 - 10 - 1 WP: Braxton Kennedy LP: Harting HR: Ripley JV: Harting --- Semifinals

Preston 11, Stonewall 3

Stonewall:1-0-2-0-0 3-4-1 Preston: 2-2-6-1-x 11-9-2 WP: Hunter McElhannon LP: Pogue HR: None --- Championship

Ripley 5, Preston 3

Preston:0-0-0-1-1-1-0 3-8-0 Ripley: 0-0-0-1-0-4-x 5-9-0 WP: Hall LP: Easton Shaw SV: Clinesmith HR: Ripley: Hall

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