It was a disappointing day at the Class B District Baseball Tournament at Grandfield for the Ryan Cowboys last Thursday.
The Cowgirls dropped a heart-breaking 16-14 decision to Grandfield in the first game of the tournament and were eliminated in the second game by Olustee-Eldorado, 17-2, to end the season.
Olustee-Eldorado won the district title with a 14-1 victory over Grandfield in the finals last Friday. The Diamondbacks are slated to begin the Class B Regional tournament today at Leedey where they will meet Timberlake in the first round.
The first game for the Cowboys was a bitter one. Poor pitching allowed Grandfield to build a lead and the Cowboys trailed, 16-8, heading into the seventh inning.
A furious Cowboy rally was ended with the bases loaded when a Cowboy runner was caught between third base and home.
It was the fourth meeting between the Cowboys and the Bearcats this season and the Cowboys had won the previous three meetings in dominating fashion.
The Bearcats jumped on the Cowboys in the top of the first inning as four of the first five Grandfield batters scored to carry Grandfield to a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, the Cowboys got a run when Tate Kimbro was hit by a pitch and Joseph Martin reached on an error. Grayson Tomberlin walked to load the bases and Kimbro scored on Dawson Tomberlin’s fielder’s choice. That trimmed the Grandfield lead to 4-1.
But, the Bearcats struck for three more runs in the top of the second. Three consecutive singles resulted in three more runs for the Bearcats.
The Cowboys got things going in the bottom of the second with walks by Pacen Wiest and Cameron Villerreal. Trey Bryant was hit by a pitch and Kimbro singled home a run. Two more runs scored when G. Tomberlin reached on an error to get Ryan to within 7-5 heading to the third.
Grandfield scored one more run in the third inning and left the bases loaded. The Cowboys kept pace with a run in the bottom of the third when Andrew Villerreal walked and scored when Bryant was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
In the top of the fourth, Grandfield added another run and held the Cowboys scoreless to notch a 9-6 lead.
Grandfield continued the offensive onslaught with an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning to extend the lead to 10-6. The Cowboys failed to score in the bottom of the inning.
The Bearcats erupted for six runs in the top of the sixth and sent 10 batters to the plate. An error, three walks, two hit batsmen and two singles led to the uprising to give Grandfield a 16-6 lead.
The Cowboys kept the game alive in the bottom of the sixth taking advantage of four walks and a two-run single by Bryant to cut the lead to 16-8 heading to the final inning.
Grandfield threatened in the top of the seventh but left the bases loaded without a run.
This set up the dramatic near comeback by the Cowboys.
Martin got things started by reaching on an error and G. Tomberlin walked. After D. Tomberlin’s fly out, A. Villerreal walked to load the bases and River Williams got a walk to score Martin.
Wiest walked to score G. Tomberlin and A. Villerreal scored on C. Villerreal’s ground out. Bryant got a two-run single that scored Williams and Wiest to cut the margin to 16-13.
Kimbro walked and Martin was hit by a pitch to load the bases again for the Cowboys. G. Tomberlin walked to score Bryant and Kimbro scored as D. Tomberlin reached on an error.
The final out came when Martin was trying to score on the error and was caught between third and home to end the game and the Cowboys falling, 16-15.
Kimbro and A. Villerreal each scored three runs for the Cowboys and Bryant was 2-for-3 with four runs batted in.
The Diamondbacks overwhelmed the Cowboys in the second game and held the Cowboys to only two runs in the game shortened to five innings because of the run rule.
In the bottom of the second, the Diamondbacks struck for seven runs, including a three-run home run to take a 7-0 lead.
Ryan got on the board in the top of the fourth when G. Tomberlin and D. Tomberlin both reached on errors and came around to score. The Cowboys left two runners stranded, but cut the lead to 7-2.
The Diamondbacks answered, however, with 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning including another three-run homer that extended the advantage to 17-2 and ended the game.
Coach Judd Matthes’ squad finishes the year with a 4-13 record.
It is the fewest wins for the Cowboys since winning only four games in 2009. The 13 losses mark the most losses by a Cowboy squad since a 15-loss season in 2006.
Five Cowboy seniors saw their final action in the district tournament – Kimbro, D. Tomberlin, Williams, C. Villerreal and Martin.
