The #1 ranked Pitkin Tigers could not unlock the mystery of Quitman pitcher Ian Tilley, as the #5 Wolverines upset the defending state champs 1-0 Tuesday at the LHSAA State Baseball Tournament at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
The defending state champion Tigers lost the game at the plate with only four hits in the Division V semifinal game. Quitman scored in the first on a lead-off double that came around to score the game’s only run.
The game was over in 1 hour and 20 minutes. The closest the Tigers came to touching home plate was a lead-off single by Lincoln Stephens in the bottom of the third inning. A bundt and a ground out advanced the runner to third base with two outs, but the Tigers failed to bring the run home.
Pitkin flashed great defensive leather with double plays in the 4th and 5th innings that took Quitman out of scoring insurance runs.
The young Tigers of Coach J.C. Holt should be back for several more years as their roster is littered with underclassmen across the field.
Quitman will play Hicks in the state Division V non-select finals Friday, May 10, at 11 a.m.
The #3 ranked Hicks Pirates dispatched the #2 Weston Wolves on the other half of the Tuesday bracket, 5-1. Hicks will be chasing the 14th state title in their storied history on Friday.
Hicks lefty, Hayden Doyle, pitched 7-1/3 innings before being taken out on the pitch count. He would be available to pitch in the finals if needed.
The Wolves had Doyle in trouble with runners at 1st and 3rd in the first inning. He ended up striking out the last batter in the inning.
The Pirates punched first when Dakota Edwards doubled and eventually came around for a 1-0 lead. Weston had two on with one out in the bottom of the third, but Hicks’ third baseman, Lance Williams, caught a hardliner and stepped on the bag for an inning-ending double play.
Hicks scored a run on a pop fly lost in the sun by a Weston fielder to make it 3-0. They could have scored more but Luke Williams was thrown out at third on a nifty play to end the inning.
The Pirates stuck again in the top of the 5th as Addison Coffman singled through a drawn-up infield for an RBI and a 4-0 lead.
Weston lost a good chance to score by stranding a runner at second in the 5th inning. The Wolves did get on the board in the 6th as Drew Browning led off with a ground rule double. A single got the Wolves on the scoreboard and left runners at first and third, but a double play by the Pirates ended the threat.
Hicks stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the 7th. When Hayden Doyle took the mound in the bottom of the 7th, he slipped on the turf before he began to pitch. Coach Gary Williams took him out with two outs in the inning. Coffman came on in relief for the final out of the 5-1 win. Doyle, a senior, threw only 84 pitches and would be available to pitch in the Division V finals on Friday.
The championship game can be heard live on 105.7/KVVP-FM and 93.5/KJAE-FM.
