The Preston Pirate varsity spring baseball team ended its regular-season schedule Monday afternoon with a 16-2 win over the visiting New Lima Falcons.
The run-rule win was the 19th-straight for the Pirates, who close out the regular season with a 22-1 record and ranked 8th in Class 2A.
The Preston diamond squad began postseason play Thursday at 4 p.m. in Game 1 of a ‘Best of 3’ series against the Caney Valley Trojans in the Class 2A district tournament at the Jim Waller Sports Complex in Preston. The second game against Caney Valley was scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. with an ‘if necessary’ game being scheduled for Friday at 12 p.m.
Two wins against Caney Valley will put the Pirates into next week’s Class 2A regional tournament at a site to be determined by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association.
In Monday’s regular-season finale against New Lima, the Pirates got the scoring started with five runs in the bottom of the first, then put the game further away in their half of the second, erupting for 11 runs in the inning for a commanding 16-0 advantage.
The visitors tallied its two runs in the top of the third and were held scoreless in the top of the fourth to award the host Preston Pirate squad the 16-2, run-rule, victory.
The Preston offense was led by Noah Wilson, who went 2 for 2 with a single, double, and 4 RBIs. The duo of Jayden Herring (2 for 3, 2 singles) and Preston Hale (2 for 2, single, double, 3 RBIs) also recorded multiple hits for the Pirates in the regular-season finale with two hits apiece.
The other Preston base hits against New Lima came on an RBI single by Braxton Kennedy, RBI triple by Kaden Dean, 2-run single by Cooper Ausbrooks, and 2-run double by Easton Shaw.
Kellen Dean (3 walks) and Luke Hankins (1 walk, 2 hit by pitch) did not have official at-bats in the contest, reaching base during each plate appearance.
Herring earned the pitching win for Preston, allowing two runs on two hits with two strikeouts, one walk, and one hit batter in two and one-third innings of work.
Kennedy took over the pitching duties in the third, entering out of the bullpen with one on and one out in the inning, striking out two and walking one in his two-thirds of an inning of relief.
Waylon Cope struck out one and hit a batter in his one scoreless inning of relief in the fourth.
— Preston 16, New Lima 2
NewLima:0-0-2-0 2-2-3 Preston: 5 – 11 – 0 – x 16 – 10 – 1 WP: Jayden Herring LP: Carr HR: None
