For two days, the Grove Ridgerunners went toe-to-toe with the Claremore Zebras for 10 innings in a pair of District 5A-3 baseball games Monday and Tuesday.
However, it was the last two innings of each contest that made the difference. The Zebras scored all five of their runs in the sixth during Monday’s 5-0 win in Claremore, then repeated the story with four in the sixth and one in the seventh in Tuesday’s 5-1 win at the Grove Sports Complex.
The Ridgerunners (5-5 overall, 2-2 in District 5A-3) took the lead in the second inning of Tuesday’s game when Kyle Good went the opposite way for a double to right field, scoring Trent Lyle. Lyle led off the inning with an infield single before stealing second.
But Grove could only manage a total of six hits off Claremore starter T.J. Wood, who struck out 11 and only allowed four baserunners over the final five innings in earning the complete game win.
“Give their guy credit; he did a great job on the mound,” Grove head coach Bret Bouher said. “He had three pitches working and I don’t know if he walked a batter. When you do that, you have a chance to win.”
Grove starter Ty Phillips kept the Zebras (7-3, 4-0) off the scoreboard through five innings, getting a double play from Good at third base to get out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth.
But the sixth would be the undoing of Phillips and the Ridgerunners. Claremore loaded the bases with a single, a double and an intentional walk before back-to-back doubles by Cameron Smith and Wood scored four runs.
“Ty matched him pitch-for-pitch and then just ran out of gas in the sixth,” Bouher said. “We had two good outings on the mound and solid defense [both days]. Yesterday, the wind was blowing in and we hit some balls right at them. Today we just never really got anything going on offense.”
Phillips struck out five and walked six before giving way to Cordale Barton in the sixth. Barton struck out two and walked one in two innings of work, giving up an unearned run in the seventh.
Wood finished the day with three RBIs in addition to his work on the mound.
The Ridgerunners will begin play in the Tiger/Zebra Classic hosted by Pryor and Claremore on Thursday. Grove will play Pryor at 2 p.m. and Skiatook at 5 p.m. in Pryor.
