SPOTLIGHT
The LeFlore County Baseball Tournament Craig Hall, LeFlore County Journal
Last year, Spiro went on the road to win the LeFlore County Baseball Tournament over Wister on the Wildcats’ home field. In 2011, coach John McAlester’s squad returned the favor as Wister defeated the Bulldogs at Spiro in the championship game of the 30th annual event by the final score of 5-3.
The tournament title continued an excellent run in the LCT for the Wildcats having won the championship for the second time in three years after finished second in 2011 as well as three years ago.
Winning the tourney crown was far from easy as the Wildcats built a big lead in the early innings, then had to survive a furious Spiro comeback in the “if necessary game” to preserve the victory. Wister built a 5-1 lead after the first inning and would then call on the pitching of Cody Luman combined with some excellent defense to win. In the championship game, Luman struck out 10 batters and got the benefit of two double plays from his defense, including one to end the contest. Luman pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning with no outs.
The biggest plays of the game came in the sixth frame. With Wister leading 5-3, Spiro scored two runs and had near misses for more as the Bulldogs had two runners thrown out at the plate. Wister catcher Clint Crane, the tournament MVP, made the first play by rushing to the backstop to field a wild pitch and throwing to Luman
covering at home for the out. The second came when left fielder Caleb Hill rifled a strike to Crane at home to retire the Bulldogs’ Tyler Didway at the plate.
The tournament finals battle was the third time in three days the two teams squared off. In the winners’ bracket finals, Wister advanced with a 7-5 victory over Spiro. Facing elimination, coach Paul Croft’s squad overcame a defensive struggle against Pocola to win, 2-1, to
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move into the finals. In the must win game, Spiro used a grand slam from Colton Gamble to defeat the Wildcats, 9-4, setting up the title game.
Wister, which is the defending 2A spring baseball champions, overcame the loss of one of its top players, Tyler Gibson, to a shoulder surgery to win. Luman pitched Wister to wins over Poteau in the second round and Spiro in the finals while Crane got the win over Spiro in the first meeting and was 3-3 at the plate in the finals.
Wister and Spiro placed 5 players on the All Tourney squad while Panama and Pocola, who finished third, had three players named to the team.
{ Cody Luman - Wister } Wister pitcher Cody Luman delivers a pitch in the win over Poteau.
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