HOME, SWEEP HOME: Doenges boys thump OCL foes

Talk about a schizophrenic baseball series!When the Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians and Marucci Midwest PWP first met in early June, they battled to a 2-2 tie.A week ago, Marucci mashed the Indians like potatoes for a Thanksgiving dinner, 15-0.But, in Tuesday’s third meeting, the Indians — riding the high-voltage arm of Bradee Rigdon and the clutch bat of Keegan Woods — zapped Marucci, 4-1, at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium/Rigdon Field.For the Indians to snap back in four days from a 15-0 loss to a 4-1 victory — and for Marucci to be on the flip-side of that eye-rattling turnaround — seemed like — well, crazy, man, crazy.And, the humungous multitude of Indians fans crowding Doenges Stadium for KWON Night at the Ballpark, couldn’t have been more berserk about the tribe’s performance.It all came down to Woods’ enchanted bat.To set up the scenario, the Indians trailed through five-and-a-half innings, 1-0. In the bottom of the sixth, a combination of a Marucci pitching change and an inspired uprising by the Indian offense made the difference.The Indians started their comeback in the sixth when Luke Fox reached on an error. He scored on Brenden Asher’s fielder’s choice to tie the game, 1-1.Karson Lee stepped to the plate next and ripped a single to advance Asher to second base. The Marucci pitcher then plunked Haden Fiddler with a pitch to load the bases — Fox getting a jump at third, Lee owning second and Fiddler dancing off first.

The rally stalled momentarily when Cole Hancock grounded into a fielder’s choice that forced out Asher at home — for the second out — but left the bases loaded.That’s when the finger of fate tapped Woods on the shoulder.After taking a ball, Woods walloped a line drive double to left to drive home Lee, Fiddler and Hancock and elevate the Indians to a 4-1 lead.Indian closer Daniel Barham then locked up the win by facing only three batters in the top of the seventh. The Indians ended the game on an around-the-horn doubleplay, from Lee at third to Thompson at second to Hancock at first.In their second game of the evening, the Indians rallied past the Diamond Dogs, 11-4.Bartlesville had trailed 3-2 halfway through regulation but erupted for an eight-run inning to surge to victory.Bartlesville improved to 23-11-1 on the season.Next up, the Indians play at 4 p.m. in the OCL semifinals, at Doenges Stadium.The tournament begins Thursday, but the Indians received a bye due to their 7-2-1 OCL record.John Pannell is the Indians’ 11th-year head coach.Following are more details from Tuesday’s sweep.INDIANS 4, MARUCCI MIDWEST 1In probably was his last major appearance this summer on the diamond named in honor of his dad Spence Rigdon, Bradee Rigdon snapped off 10 strikeouts in five innings.He played the Marucci Midwest offense like a hasta la vista symphony.Rigdon’s harmonious mound gem was just what Pannell hard ordered.Rigdon entered the game in the second inning — in relief of starter Jakob Hall, who had struck out two of four batters in the first inning — and whiffed six batters in his first three innings.Marucci racked up an unearned run in the fifth to break up the shutout.But, Rigdon finished up his stint by whizzing through the top of the sixth with three-straight outs, the final two by strikeouts.His pitch count was up to 101 by then and Pannell sent Barham to the bump to finish up in the seventh.Meanwhile, the Indians offense didn’t exactly light up the world (five hits), but thanks to some timely at bats and Woods’ three-run two bagger, it found a way to win.Lee and Woods both finished with two hits.INDIANS 11, DIAMOND DOGS 4Let’s face it — the Indians bats the previous several games hadn’t made enough noise to seriously disturb a funeral.But, while not overpowering in terms of hitting production, the Indians ‘O’ did a Lazarus against the Dogs.In their previous 13 games, the Indians’ top run production had been seven runs, they had been shutout twice and had been held to three-or-fewer runs in seven games.In the breakout win against the Dogs, five different Indians contributed hits, nine scored at least one run and four recorded RBIs.Asher ripped a single and drove in three runs, while Fox plated two runs while going 1-for-3.Young and Harrison Clark drove in one run apiece. Clark lifted a sacrifice fly.Evan McClendon was hit with a pitch twice, stole two bases and scored a run.Myson VanWinkle — in his first plate appearance of the season — also reached base as a hit batsman.Pannell split pitching time between Alan Covarrubias, Hayden Catlin and Cole Hancock.They allowed only four walks between them and none of the three gave up more than one earned run apiece.Key Indian contributors during the eight-run fourth-inning explosion included Woods with a leadoff double, Young with a bases-loaded walk, Fox with a two-run single and Asher with a two-run single.Following this weekend’s OCL tourney, the Indians are set to close out the season the following week at the Stan Musial World Series in Oklahoma City.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Doenges Ford Indians rally to win both ends of a doublehader