KHS outlasts BC to start district sweep

A district sweep to start the week saw the Kingfisher High School baseball team surpass last year’s win total.

The Jackets downed Bridge Creek 18-17 in a wild 4A-4 matchup on the road Monday and then came back home Tuesday to grab a bit more conventional 9-6 victory.

Those wins moved KHS to 8-4 on the season. The team finished 7-22 a year ago.

They also bumped the Jackets to 6-0 in district games this season.

Kingfisher won Monday despite giving up three home runs and 10 walks and also striking out 14 times.

The tying and winning runs came in the top of the seventh.

Jazyen Surveyor singled and ultimately scored on a passed ball to even the score at 17-17.

He scored when Carter Stephenson was at the plate. A few pitches later, Stephenson laid down a squeeze bunt to score Jagger Braun from third base.

Collin Farrar retired the Bobcats in order in the bottom of the seventh - the only 1-2-3 inning of the game that didn’t involve a double play - to give himself the win.

Farrar pitched the final 4 innings, gave up three hits, 6 runs (5 earned), walked 4 and struck out 5.

He and Cooper Henley combined to only surrender six hits, but half of them were homers.

The Jackets also committed three errors. All of them came in the first inning and those combined with four walks allowed the Bobcats to stake a 4-1 lead.

It was 8-3 after three innings when KHS struck for 9 runs in the top of the fourth.

The Jackets had seven RBI hits in the inning.

Farrar, Henley and Kaden Cline each drove in a run with singles to pull within 8-6 and then three runs eventually scored when Surveyor reached on a bunt single.

Braun made it 10-8 with his RBI single and Stephenson’s run-scoring double pushed it to 11-8.

Farrar closed out the scoring with his second RBI single of the frame.

But the lead was shortlived as Bridge Creek answered with eight runs of its own in the bottom half.

That half-inning included five walks, a hit batter and two homers.

Down four runs, the Jackets rallied in the fifth.

Henley led off with a single and later scored on a passed ball.

Brody Boeckman and Braun each drove in a run before Boeckman tied it by scoring on a wild pitch.

The Bobcats regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth and it remained 17-16 until KHS scored in the seventh.

The Jackets collected 16 hits.

Braun was 3 for 3, drove in 3 runs and scored 3.

Cline was 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Farrar, Brett Calamateo, Henley and Surveyor had 2 hits apiece.

Surveyor drove in 2 runs and scored 4 times.

Stephenson, Snider and Calameteo each scored twice.

There were fewer fireworks in Tuesday’s return game.

Cline helped ensure that as he pitched 6 solid innings in which he gave up 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), walked 3 and struck out 8.

He helped himself out with an RBI single in a five-run first inning for the Jackets.

Stephenson and Braun also had RBIs in the frame.

The Bobcats cut their deficit to 2 runs before Henley added an RBI sacrifi ce fly in the fourth.

After it again got cut to two runs, Kingfisher plated three insurance runs in the sixth.

Calamateo pitched the final frame.

Stephenson was 3 for 3 at the plate with 2 RBIs and a run.

Farrar went 2 for 3 and scored twice.

Calamateo also crossed home twice in the contest.