Breather done. Back to the real battles.
That’s the scenario for most area high school teams as they put last week’s spring break behind them and begin their stretch runs toward the playoffs.
Following is a roundup of some of Monday’s area baseball action.
Bartlesville
The Bruins (6-8) waged a hearty dogfight against a sturdy Sand Springs Sandites squad and its prodigious pitcher Eli Buxton, who looms Herculean on the mound at 6-foot-6.
But, errors and walks — and squandered opportunities to bust out against Buxton — sent the Bruins to the home loss at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium, 6-1.
The game was a slobberknocker through six innings — a 0-0 tie after three innings, a 1-0 Sand Springs lead through five innings and a 2-0 Sand Springs advantage at the end of the sixth.
Sand Springs took advantage of some Bruin miscues in the top of the seventh to add four insurance runs and make it nearly impossible for the Bruins to mount a comeback against Buxton, who tossed 12 strikeouts in six innings.
Bartlesville broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh when Barrett Merciez scored on a wild pitch.
Merciez also started on the bump for Bartlesville and labored valiantly through 6.2 quality innings, administering several K’s in the final part of the contest — but a combination of free passes and cracks in the defensive armor opened the door for the Sandites to squeeze out a closer-than-the-final-score-indicated win. Bruin head coach Cody Price called on relief pitcher Sam Marcella to register the final out in the top of the seventh.
As mentioned, the Bruin offense made some deep rumblings.
In the bottom of the fourth — with Sand Springs clinging to a 1-0 lead — Jaxon Zaun led off with a walk to fire up a Bruin rally. Brenden Asher followed with a single to provide Bartlesville two baserunners and no outs. But, Buxton bore down to retire the side on a strikeout and double play ball.
In the bottom of the fifth, Marcella delivered a one-out single, but was left stranded.
Asher earned a walk in the sixth inning — and ended up cooling his heels.
Trailing 6-0, Bartlesville made a gritty comeback try in the bottom of the fourth, ignited by a leadoff walk to Merciez. The Sandite pitcher then plunked Damien Niko with a pitch as Bartlesville had runners at first and second with no outs for the second time in this game. After Merciez and Niko each moved up a base, Sand Springs made the pitching change. The new hurler struck out both batters he faced, but not before Merciez came home on a wild pitch.
Bartlesville returns to action Tuesday evening at Sand Springs. Bartlesville will play host this weekend to the annual Bruin Classic. The Bruins open tourney play at 11 a.m. Thursday and will be back on the field at 11 a.m. Thursday and 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Caney Valley
Class 5A Claremore proved to be a little too much for the Class 2A Trojans (6-3).
Claremore won, 17-0, to snap Caney Valley’s three-game winning streak.
Caney Valley will look to snap back Tuesday against Oklahoma Union and is set to play this weekend in the Nowata tourney.
Others
Copan crumpled Foyil, 14-0; Verdigris vexed Dewey, 16-2; Pawhuska dropped Nowata, 25-2; and Chouteau-Mazie outlasted Oklahoma Union, 5-1.
Copan improved to 9-2 with its fifth game of scoring 10 or more runs. Dewey remained about .500 (7-6). Pawhuska (4-1) won its fourth straight while Nowata’s record went to 1-10. Oklahoma Union saw its record evened at 5-5.
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