For the third-straight weekend, the Preston Pirate varsity spring baseball team captured a tournament championship.
The most recent championship was extra special for the Pirates, as it took place on their home field at the Jim Waller Sports Complex.
The Preston squad defeated the Haskell Haymakers by a 9-1 margin to win the championship trophy at the 2023 Dawson Sumner Invitational baseball tournament.
The annual home spring baseball tournament was renamed in honor of former Preston player Dawson Sumner, who lost his life in a car accident this past New Year’s Eve.
In order to have a chance to complete their tournament sweep in 2023, the Pirates needed a late rally last Friday against the Gore Pirates in the semifinal round of the 3-day event, which was sponsored by the MCN Recreation Department. The Preston squad rallied from a 5-run deficit in their final two innings of regulation, then advanced to the championship game on a walkoff Grand Slam home run in the bottom of the eighth for a thrilling 16-12 semifinal win.
The Pirates began their journey towards the championship last Thursday with a 10-1, run- rule, win over the Liberty (Mounds) Tigers in an opening-round matchup. The run-rule win was the third-straight decisive victory over Liberty (Mounds) in a 7-day span that included 16-0 wins April 6 at the Mounds Tournament and April 10 in Liberty-Mounds.
The run-rule win over Haskell puts the Preston squad at 17-1 on the year with the Pirates currently being ranked eighth in Class 2A.
Preston returned to action Monday with a trip to Wilburton for a showdown with the Wilburton Diggers and will return home Thursday for a meeting with the Stroud Tigers. The Pirates will also be home Saturday for a 3-team battle with Hulbert and Porter.
In last Thursday’s opening-round win over Liberty (Mounds), the visitors took an early lead with a run in the top of the first.
The host Pirates took over the lead, 2-1, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, then added two more in the second for a 4-1 advantage after two innings of action.
After a scoreless third and top of fourth, the Preston squad increased its lead to 10-1 with a 6-run bottom of the fourth.
The Preston defense kept the Tigers off the scoreboard in the top of the fifth to earn the 10-1, runrule, win.
Hunter McElhannon went the distance on the mound for Preston to earn the pitching win. McElhannon gave up one run on four hits with eight strikeouts, two walks, and one hit batter in five innings of work.
Luke Hankins led the offensive attack for the victorious Pirates, finishing 2 for 4, with a single, double, and 2 RBIs.
Noah Wilson also recorded a multi-hit game for Preston in the opening-round win, going 2 for 3 with a single and double.
The other Pirate base hits against Liberty (Mounds) came on a single by Jayden Herring, RBI double by Kellen Dean, and 2-run single by Cooper Ausbrooks. Herring and Kellen Dean had back-toback RBI walks in the 6-run fourth, while Preston Hale did not record an official at-bat in the contest, reaching base on a walk and two hit by pitches.
In last Friday’s semifinal battle with Gore, the host Pirates opened the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the first. Gore plated two runs in the top of the second to cut the Preston lead in half, 4-2, while Preston made it a 7-2 contest with a run in its half of the second and two runs in the home half of the third.
Gore plated a run in the fourth for a 7-3 contest, then added three in the fifth and six in the sixth to take over the lead at 12-7 after five and one-half innings of action.
The host Pirates tallied three runs in the bottom of the sixth to narrow the deficit to two, 12-10, then deadlocked the score at 12-12 with two runs in their final at-bat of regulation.
After Gore was held off the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, the Preston squad ended the contest with a walkoff Grand Slam home run in the bottom half of the inning.
Preston Hale began the bottom of the eighth with a double, then Braxton Kennedy and Jayden Herring drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs in the inning.
With the winning run standing 90 feet away at third, Kellen Dean took the first pitch for a ball, then sent the 1-0 pitch sailing over the left-field wall for game-winning Grand Slam home run.
Kellen Dean also earned the pitching win for Preston, allowing one run on one hit, striking out two and hitting two in two and two-third innings of relief work. Dean took over the pitching duties with one out, the bases loaded, and Gore leading 9-7 in the sixth.
Dean took over for Noah Wilson, who worked two and one-third innings of relief, entering with no outs and two on in the fourth. Wilson allowed eight runs on nine hits with one strikeout and one walk in the relief appearance.
Herring got the start on the mound for Preston and gave up three runs on four hits with four strikeouts, five walk, and one hit batter in three-plus innings of work.
The Preston offensive attack was led by the trio of Wilson (2 for 4, single, home run, 2 RBIs), Luke Hankins (2 for 3, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs), and Cooper Ausbrooks (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI) with two hits apiece. Wilson’s home run came on a 2-run shot in the first.
Besides Kellen Dean’s game-winning Grand Slam home run and Hale’s leadoff double in the eighth, the other Pirate base hits in the semifinal win came on a single by Waylon Cope, RBI single by Kaden Dean, and 2-run single by Kennedy.
Kaden Dean also drove in runs in the third and seventh innings with an RBI groundout and RBI sacrifice fly, respectively.
In Saturday’s championship win over Haskell, the Pirates opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first, then added two in the second and three in the third for a 6-0 advantage.
After a scoreless fourth, both teams tallied a run in their half of the fifth for a 7-1 Preston lead, then the Pirates ended the game on the run rule with two runs in the last of the sixth for the 9-1 decision and the tournament championship.
Easton Shaw went the distance on the mound for Preston to earn the pitching win. Shaw allowed one run on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks in six innings of work.
Kellen Dean led the way offensively for the Pirates, finishing 3 for 4 with two singles, a triple, and 3 RBIs.
Shaw also had a multi-hit game for Preston against Haskell, going 2 for 3 with a single, triple, and 2 RBIs.
The other Pirate base hits in the championship game came on a single by Jayden Herring, double by Cooper Ausbrooks, and RBI singles by Luke Hankins, Noah Wilson, and Waylon Cope.
Kaden Dean drove in a run in the fifth for the Pirates with an RBI sacrifice fly.
— Dawson Sumner Invitational First Round
Preston 10, Liberty (Mounds) 1
Liberty: 1-0-0-0-0 1 -4-3 Preston: 2 – 2 – 0 – 6 – x 10 – 7 – 0 WP: Hunter McElhannon LP: Thompson HR: None — Semifinals
Preston 16, Gore 12; 8 innings
Gore: 0-2-0-1-3-6-0-0 12-14-5 Preston:4-1-2-0-0-3-2-4 16-11-1 No outs when winning run scored WP: Kellen Dean LP: Barnes HR: Preston: Noah Wilson, Kellen Dean — Championship
Preston 9, Haskell 1
Haskell: 0-0-0-0-1-0 1- 5 -1 Preston: 1 – 2 – 3 – 0 – 1 – 2 9 – 10 – 0 WP: Easton Shaw LP: Westmoreland HR: None
