MOORE — The championship of the Moore Varsity Metal Bat Tournament was supposed to be a showcase of one of the top players in the country. But with the injury to Bryce Harper, it was a pair of Oklahoma bred teams that fought it out for the summer league title.
Westmoore took on Yukon I Sunday night at Moore High. With Harper out of the lineup due to a leg injury, the Jaguars held off the Millers 13-10 in a high scoring affair.
The Jaguars ended the four-day tourney with a 4-1 record. Their only loss came Friday against Yukon II.
Westmoore made it to the finale by beating outlasting Blanchard 3-2 in extra innings Saturday. They followed it up with a 10-8 victory over Moore.
Despite Blanchard also having a 3-1 record, it was the Jags who represented Pool II in the championship due to their head to head encounter.
Yukon I was able to knock off the likes of Southmoore, Edmond North, Putnam City North and Choctaw to win Pool I.
While the Jaguars won the title, both Southmoore and MHS saw their own success.
The SaberCats went 3-1 with wins over Choctaw, Putnam City North and Edmond North. Their only defeat was a 2-1 nail biter to Yukon. A win over the Millers would have propelled the Cats into the championship.
“It was the best four game stretch we have played since the program started,” Southmoore coach Shannon Enfield said. “We gave up three earned runs in 26 innings. It is a chance for us to check our progress against four 6A clubs. We want to see how our four-man starting rotation will hold up when we extend their pitch count in meaningful games.”
The Cats got solid pitching from Dylan Davis, Jeremey Scammahorn and Holden Collins. Kaleb Teel, Austin Reece, Stephen Stacy, Jacob Borrego, Austin Hilterbran, Chad Hernandez and Cody Loyd had key hits throughout the tournament.
Southmoore was 6-5 this summer heading into the tourney. Coming off their first year in existence, this time of year has been spent defining what type of team they will be next spring.
“We are trying to solidify our depth by allowing players to play exclusively at one or two positions, increasing their confidence while gaining experience,” Enfield said. “We are still a very young team. We emphasize getting better every day at one thing. I would like to see consistent play out of all of our players. I would also like to see if our change to an aggressive running offensive game will continue against good competition. I especially want us to develop a starting rotation and begin to establish well defined roles for all players on our team.”
For the Lions, it also was a chance to get some of their younger players experience against qualify clubs.
“We played well,” MHS coach David Hinckley said. “We had good moments. Had good performances. They all played well. All had moments where they were really good.”
The Lions went 2-2 during the tourney. Their loss to Westmoore cost them a chance to play in the title game.
Yet, since they were the host team, it was still a profitable week as large crowds came out to the ballpark every day.
“Harper made it a special tourney for the people that came,” Hinckley said. “I think the teams that came, there were no bad teams. All had some good competition. I don’t have numbers on that yet but I think the numbers, when it is all said and done, will come out to about $2 or $3 thousand. The gate was very good every time Westmoore played.”
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