ONE STEP FROM CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Doenges Ford boys eye July Fourth semifinal at 3 p.m.
Not only are the Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians headed to Monday’s Glen Winget Memorial Baseball Tournament semifinals — they are doing so in style.
Bartlesville knocked off its eastern Oklahoma rival Three Rivers Bandits, 2-1, on the Sunday night to earn the No. 1 seed in the Final Four on July Fourth.
The Indians (3-0) and the Elk City Mudcats (2-1) will clash at 3 p.m. with a spot in the championship game on the line.
In the 1 p.m. semifinal, the Bryant Black Sox (3-0) will face Southern Elevation (1 p.m.).
The Bartlesville-Elk City winner and Bryant-Southern Elevation winner move on to the championship game at 5 p.m.
It will be a historic Winget finale.
Neither Southern Elevation or Bryant have ever played for the Winget title. Elk City also has never catapulted into the Winget final.
The Indians will be seeking their 31st appearance in a Winget championship game.
Their last foray to the final occurred in 2018, when they beat Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo to seize the crown.
Tellingly, perhaps, Kickapoo was one of the teams the Indians beat this past weekend in pool play in order to make their run to the semis.
The Indians yanked out three one-run decisions in pool play — 3-2 against Kickapoo, 4-3 against the Fort Smith (Ark.) Sportsman and 2-1 against Three Rivers.
In Sunday’s win, the Indians inched out to a 2-0 leas — on RBIs by Harrison Clark and Cole Hancock — and relied on their pitching staff and defense to do the rest.
Starting moundman Bradee Rigdon — making a rare appearance for the squad — clocked in with a stellar performance in 5.0 innings.
Focused on getting ahead early in the count — he was up 0-and-2 or 1-and-2 among most batters — Rigdon allowed only four hits, no walks and no runs and struck out eight batters.
Daniel Barham stepped in as a closer for the second time in three nights and got the job done.
During his two-inning stint, hd allowed three hits, no walks, one run and whiffed two hitters.
In other Winget results, the Bartlesville United Linen Braves — a 17U team going up against mostly older squads — finished 0-4, including Monday’s 7-3 loss to the Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest Merchants (2-2) in the 10th place game.
Three Rivers (2-2) finished the tourney with a positive note by outlasting Fort Smith, 6-2, in the seventh place game. Fort Smith finished at 2-2.
Through the first three games, the Indians feasted on strong offensive performances by Evan McClendon (4-for-8, three runs scored) and Kaeden Young (3-for-9, two RBIs).
Haden Fiiddler was 2-for-3 and Cole Hancock batted .286, with two RBIs.
A follow-up report with several more details is planned Wednesday’s Winget follow-up report.