Durant, Ok. - The Durant Lions are now 8-2 overall and 6-1 in district after a monumental come back against Tulsa Hale on Friday with a 6-5 win, and sweep of Tulsa Central on Saturday afternoon by the tune of 12-0 and 15-0.
Friday Game
The Lions faced off against a tough team in Tusla Hale on Friday. Tulsa grabbed a 5-1 lead and held on to it until the bottom half of the fifth inning when Durant rallied to tie the game and in the sixth Durant junior Austin Joines knocked in the winning run.
“This game shows the resolve of these kids. The character and integrity that they have to keep fighting and fight all the way through.” said head coach Ron Norman,” They know that the game is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
Brandon Robinson got the start for the Lions and pitched for 4 1/2 innings. Robinson pitched well, with the game tied 1-1 in the top of the fourth, Tusla bats came alive and scored four runs. Then Dylan Stevens, got the win, came in as relief with bases loaded and two outs. Stevens made quick work of the batter with a strike out to get out the inning. Tulsa Hale led 5-1.
Then in the bottom of the fifth inning the flood gates opened up and the Lions tied the game 5-5. Tyler Stovall would get on base after a error and Spencer Tidwell would bunt his way on. The stage was set for a Lions come back.
With one out, Joines knocked in Stovall with an infield single. Then Stevens helped his own cause with a RBI double to center. Seth White would step into the batters box and hammered in a the tying run with a 2 RBI single. Game tied at 5 apiece.
Then after a scoreless inning by Tulsa, the Lions grabbed the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Carson Campbell got on base with a single. After two outs, Joines got up to bat and found a pitch he likes and smoked the ball to center for the go ahead RBI and the Lions won 6-5.
“We found a way to win in the end and that’s good because that is a mark of their character.” said Norman.
Saturday Games:
Tulsa Central came to town for a double-header against the Lions and the Lions swept Tulsa 12-0 and 15-0.
Tulsa Central was fielding a very young team and for some players, it was the first time they ever played the game. While others teams run-ruled them one or two innings, Lions head coach had a better idea.
“It’s one of the games, like I told our kids, we are going to play with class and character. We are going to treat people the way we want to be treated.” said Norman, “It’s the first time all year that they have played more than two or three innings, because everybody else plays a couple of innings with them and says, “We’re done.” I told our boys that we are not going to strike out at the plate, outs will be on the base pad. They understood and you know they felt bad for those guys. But’s it’s a district game and we still have to play it. So we are going to play it with class, character and integrity for the game. I’m really proud of the kids of how they handled the situation.” said coach Norman.
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