The Preston Pirate varsity spring baseball team captured the team championship at the Drumright Tournament this past Saturday with a 9-1 victory over the host Drumright Tornados.
The championship win puts the Pirates (ranked 5th in Class 2A) at 8-0 on the year, heading into Monday’s home game with Porum.
The Preston squad are also scheduled to host Oologah on Thursday and Howe on Friday to complete this week’s 3-game homestand.
At last weekend’s Drumright Tournament, the Pirates began play last Thursday with a 9-6, come-from-behind, win over the Frontier Mustangs, then advanced to the championship game with an 11-3 victory over the Depew Hornets last Friday in a semifinal showdown.
Friday’s semifinal contest with Depew was played at Mounds High School due to wet field conditions at Drumright.
In last Thursday’s opening- round meeting with Frontier, the Pirates started the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first. Frontier took a 4-3 lead with four runs in the top of the second, while the Preston squad plated two runs in the home half of the frame for a narrow 5-4 advantage.
The score remained at 5-4, in favor of the Pirates, until the top of the fifth when the Mustangs tallied two runs in the frame for a 6-5 lead.
The Preston squad rallied for four runs in the last of the fifth to secure the 9-6 victory, as the tournament’s time limit expired while the Pirates were batting in the bottom of the fifth.
Braxton Kennedy was awarded the pitching win for Preston in the opening-round win, allowing two runs on one hit with six strikeouts and four walks in four innings of relief work.
Kennedy took over with no outs in the top of the second for starter Trae Stidman, who gave up four runs on two hits, striking out one, walking four, and hitting a batter in one-plus innings of work.
Bradley Winford led the way offensively for the Pirates, finishing 3 for 4 with two singles, a double, and one RBI.
Jayden Herring (2 for 4, single, double) and Kaden Dean (2 for 4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs) also recorded multiple hits for the Preston squad against Frontier with two hits apiece.
The other Pirate base hits in the opening-round win came on a single by Easton Shaw, RBI singles by Hunter McElhannon and Pepper Gallup, and an RBI double by Kellen Dean.
Against Depew, the Hornets tallied their three runs in the top of the fourth.
Preston opened the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the first, then added two in the second for a 6-0 advantage.
With the score 6-3 in favor of the Pirates, the Preston offense brought the game to an end on the run rule with a 5-run bottom of the fifth, punching the Pirates’ ticket to the title game with the 11-3 decision.
The Preston offense was led by the quartet of Jayden Herring (2 for 4, single, double, 2 RBIs), Pepper Gallup (2 for 3, single, double), Bradley Winford (2 for 2, single, triple, 2 RBIs), and Braxton Kennedy (2 for 3, 2 singles, 4 RBIs) with two hits apiece.
The final four hits in the Pirates’ 12-hit total came on singles by Easton Shaw, Noah Wilson, and Hunter McElhannon and a 2-run single by Kellen Dean.
Herring went the distance on the mound for Preston to earn the pitching decision. The Preston righthander struck out five and walked two, while giving up three runs on two hits in five innings of work.
In the title game against Drumright, the host Tornados plated their lone run of the contest in the top of the fourth.
Preston tallied two in the first, one in the second, one in the third, three in the fourth, and two in the sixth for the 9-1 victory.
Jayden Herring was tops offensively for the Pirates in the championship game, finishing 3 for 4 with a pair of singles and a double.
Kaden Dean (2 for 4, double, triple, 3 RBIs) and Braxton Kennedy (2 for 3, single, double) were next in the Preston hit column against Drumright with two hits apiece.
The final two base hits for the Pirates in the championship game came on singles by Kellen Dean and Easton Shaw.
Shaw was handed the ball for the title game and allowed one run on two hits, striking out nine and walking two in six innings of work to be awarded the pitching win for Preston.
— Drumright Tournament First Round
Preston 9, Frontier 6
Frontier:0-4-0-0-2 6- 3 -3 Preston: 3-2-0-0-4 9-11-3 WP: Braxton Kennedy LP: Thompson HR: None — Semifinals
Preston 11, Depew 3
Depew: 0-0-0-3-0 3 – 2 -1 Preston: 4 – 2 – 0 – 0 – 5 11 – 12 – 2 WP: Jayden Herring LP: Kinney HR: None — Championship
Preston 9, Drumright 1
Drumright: 0 – 0 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0 1 – 2 – 6 Preston: 2-1-1-3-0-2 9-9-1 WP: Easton Shaw LP: Gooch HR: Drumright: Kelley
