On the verge: DF Indians split on Wednesday evening, must win Thursday

Will Thursday be the final day of the season?

Or will it be a launching pad toward landing in a national tournament?

Those will be the questions facing the Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians 19U baseball players and coaches at sunrise on Thursday.

To evoke a Dickensian aura, Wednesday was the best of times and the worst of times for the Indians.

As far as the first, Bartlesville delivered a sparkling performance — perhaps its most-complete effort of the summer — to drop-kick the Drillers (Cushing), 8-2, in their battle on the first day of the Stan Musial World Series qualifier being hosted by Bartlesville.

“We did a lot of small things right,” said Indians head coach John Pannell. “We forced them into some situations.”

But, in the second game, a plethora of Indian pitchers combined to give up 19 walks and a hit batsman in a lopsided loss to the Tulsa Sandlot.

The Indians are set to host Boa Bat at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, with potential season survival on the line.

Bartlesville’s fate already could have been decided in the 3:30 p.m. showdown between the Sandlot and the Drillers.

If the Drillers were to win, the Indians could have a shot at winning the pool if they were to beat Boa Bat.

But, if the Sandlot were to subdue the Drillers, the chase would be done — Sandlot would win the pool at 3-0 and the best the Indians (15-16-1) could finish would be 2-1.

The pool winner will advance Friday to the next round of the Musial Series, to be held in Chickasha.

In Wednesday’s other pool games, Sandlot outlasted Boa Bat, 15-13, and the Drillers nipped Boa Bat, 7-4.

Even if the Indians don’t have a chance in the 6:30 p.m. game, they can still play to avoid a losing season and end on a high note in what has been an entertaining summer campaign.

Following are summaries of Wednesday’s games.

INDIANS 8, DRILLERS 2

Cole Hancock, Josh Weber and Nik Johnson combined on the mound to tame the Drillers’ offense and open the door for the Indians to win.

Hancock — a hard-throwing lefty — opened up by striking out the first batter he faced and carrying a shutout into the fifth inning.

He had some control hiccups in the bottom of the fifth with two walks (sandwiched around a strikeout) and Pannell issued the quick hook to try to keep the Drillers from gaining offensive momentum.

“Definitely our pitching,” Johnson said after the game when asked about the difference in the game.

The team’s offensive mindset was “we wanted to go up and hit all the fastballs we could,” Johnson added.

Pannell called on Weber out of the pen. With two runners on base, Weber recorded the second out by fielding a sacrifice bunt. A pitch that got behind the catcher allowed the lead runner to score to cut Bartlesville’s lead to 5-1. But, Weber got the next batter to ground out to second baseman Kael Siemers.

On the play, Siemers initially dropped the ball, but recovered instantly and made the throw to first in time.

Weber also would pitch the sixth inning. Johnson finished up in the seventh inning by retiring 3-of-the-4 batters he faced.

Hancock earned the win; he struck out six batters, including the leadoff batter in the first, second and third innings.

He also received a big assist from the defense. In the bottom of the second, left fielder Haden Fiddler ran a long way to snare a line drive, with runners on second and first. The next batter hit a slow-rolling grounder toward the hole, but shortstop Brenden Asher charged the ball, plucked it up and made the throw in time to first to squash the threat.

Hancock wanted to stay on the mound, Pannell said.

“Cole Hancock pitched a heck of a game,” Pannell said. “But, it was a 105-degree heat index. He was dripping wet. Most pitchers are never happy to come out of a ballgame.”

While the pitching and defense did their jobs, the offense also rose to the occasion.

In the top of the first, Fiddler led off with an infield single, advanced on Asher’s grounder and hustled home on Harrison Clark’s scoop liner to left.

The Indians added two more runs in the second inning, on a sac fly by Siemers to plate Jace Thompson and a knuckle-ball liner by Fiddler to bring Johnson home.

In the top of the third, Keegan Woods ripped a two-run to stretch the Indians’ lead to 5-0.

Fiddler came home in the sixth on a steal and an error.

In the seventh inning, Kaeden Young stole home and Johnson scored on a double player to wrap up the Indians’ scoring.

SANDLOT 10, INDIANS 3

Sandlot burst to a 5-0 lead, but the Indians snapped back to get within two, 5-3.

But, the Indians gave up enough walks for a month and Sandlot produced only one hit in the game!

Take away most of those 20 free passes and the Indians might have emerged as the victorious team.

Sandlot took a 1-0 lead in the first — but it could have been a lot bigger. The Tulsa squad loaded the bases, with only one out, but managed just one tally off Indians’ starting pitcher Trey Bennett.

Sandlot added three more runs in the second inning and the Indians never caught up.

They made a valiant effort to come back, including a run off an infield single by Siemers and a Sandlot error.

But, after the Indians closed to within 5-3, Sandlot kept piling on the runs, fueled by the free passes.

Pannell pointed to the heat and humidity — and the sweat it caused — as a culprit in the Indians’ pitching and defensive woes.

“The players were ringing wet,” he said. The Indians had had the misfortune of having to play the two hottest games of the day, at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The sky was largely overcast earlier in the day.

As mentioned, Thursday could finish up the season and, for some, possibly their Indian days.

“I just enjoy being around these guys a lot. They’re all nice, stand-up guys,” said Matt Winter, who could or not be back next year, depending on the Indians’ age group makeup.

Winters pointed to his pitching effort against Marucci Midwest as one of his most memorable of the summer. The Indians have won five of the games he started.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville Doengas Ford 19U splits with Cushing, must win Thursday