With only six teams lined up to compete in the Cowboy Classic baseball tournament the tourney will engage in pool play instead of the traditional bracket format.
The tournament was set to get under way this morning with Thackerville taking on Big Pasture to be followed by Thackerville and Grandfield at 12 noon. Grandfield was to have met Big Pasture today at 2 p.m. to complete the pool play for Pool A.
Pool B will begin play at 4 p.m. today with Waurika taking on Temple at 4 p.m. That contest will be followed by Ryan meeting Temple at 6 p.m. and the day will conclude with Ryan matching up with Waurika at 8 p.m.
All the games will be played on Larry Ninman Field at the Bob Givens Sports Complex.
The field for this year’s tournament is not a strong one, so any of the schools could rise up and claim the tournament title.
Thackerville is probably the favorite to take the crown for this tournament that is in its fifth year.
The Wildcats’ record is unknown, but they did win their own invitational tourney a couple of weeks ago defeating Ringling in the championship game, 15-11.
Thackerville’s pool opponents have only two wins between them. Big Pasture is 2-1 on the year heading into games earlier this week, while Grandfield is 0-9 not including a match up earlier this week with Chattanooga.
It is like the opponent in the championship game for Thackerville will be Waurika, however, the Eagles come into this tournament with a 2-9 mark not including games earlier this week with Wilson and Comanche.
The Eagles’ pool opponents have only one victory between them. The Cowboys are 1-5 on the year not including the contest with Big Pasture scheduled for earlier this week. Temple is 0-6 not including games earlier this week with Empire and Cyril.
The tournament will take Friday off and will be completed on Saturday.
The two third place teams from each pool will battle for fifth place on Saturday at noon, while the two second-place squads will play for the tournament’s third place at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The championship game will pit the two pool winners and the first pitch is slated for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
In event of ties in the pool play, they will be decided in four ways. The first will be head-to-head competition and the second will be runs allowed by each team that is tied. If those two do not decide things, the third tie-breaker is runs allowed in the first inning of play.
The fourth tie-breaker is a coin flip.
Be sure and check social media or your local school to see if weather played a role in the schedule.
Be sure and check social media or your local school to see if weather played a role in the schedule.
