BASEBALL: Claremore suffers heartbreaking defeat to Pryor
Apr. 10—Tuesday marked another heartbreaking defeat for Claremore baseball.
Despite having a brief lead in the fifth inning and holding district leader Pryor scoreless for seven innings, a walk-off single from Rider King in the bottom of the 10th inning handed the Zebras a 3-2 road loss. Claremore now sits at 17-8 overall and 6-2 in District 5A-3, with four of those eight losses coming in extra innings.
Consecutive pop outs earned two outs for the Zebras prior to King's winning hit, but Gavin Roberts, who led off the inning with a single, advanced to third on an error. King then delivered a line-drive single through left field, overcoming a 3-2 count to secure the victory.
Most of the game was a pitchers dual, with the teams combining for only four hits through the first four innings and 13 overall.
Roberts earned the win for the Tigers, holding Claremore scoreless through the final three innings while allowing three hits and one walk and managing two strikeouts on 40 pitches. Tyler Booth served on the mound through the first seven, tossing two strikeouts with four hits, two runs and two walks surrendered on 84 pitches.
Dan Harrington had a commendable performance for the Zebras despite taking the loss, throwing four strikeouts on 80 pitches through 5.2 innings, allowing four hits and two runs. Marcos Sallee exited the mound after four innings, finishing with three strikeouts and one run allowed on two hits and two walks.
Pryor took a 1-0 lead in the third, but the run was absent a hit as Sergio Banuelos scored on a fielder's choice after Clinton Stohler hit a ground ball to shortstop Zach Hale.
Claremore's offense picked up momentarily in the fifth, with Connor Rowe and Tyler Osgood notching a pair of singles to open the frame.
Rowe didn't have to wait on base for long, for an error by the Tigers' shortstop allowed him to reach home on Osgood's hit. Gunner Holm then gave the Zebras a 2-1 lead, scoring on a sacrifice bunt from Izaak McMahan.
Claremore wouldn't tally another hit until consecutive singles from Harrington and Hale in the eighth inning, but unfortunately for Jonathan Gelnar's club, those didn't lead to any runs.
Harrington immediately made an impact when he took the mound in the bottom of the fifth, forcing a fly out and a pop out on only five pitches.
Stohler responded with a triple to right field on the following at-bat, though, and evened the score shortly thereafter on a balk.
Hits were at a premium the rest of the way, with none being recorded in the sixth, seventh or ninth innings. Of the six hits between the teams through the final five innings, only King's could break the deadlock.
Harrington and Hale led the Zebras at the plate with two hits apiece, while Roberts and Stohler paced Pryor's six-hit effort with two each.
Claremore doesn't return to district action until Monday, April 15, when it hosts district co-leader Collinsville at 5 p.m. Before then, the Zebras will engage in a pair of nondistrict bouts at Chickasha on Thursday and at home against Marlow on Friday.
