Latta seventh-inning rally falls just short
Sep. 10—SILO — The Latta High School baseball team nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback before dropping a 5-4 decision to Oktaha Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2022 Silo Tournament.
The Tigers, ranked No. 6 in Class A, improved to 12-6 on the season, while No. 13 Latta dropped to 8-10.
In another first-round game, Tupelo knocked off Wright City 5-1. The Tigers, No. 4 in Class B, improved to 5-4, while Wright City — No. 10 in Class A — fell to 10-5. Tupelo was scheduled to face Oktaha in a Friday evening semifinal contest, while Latta battled the Lumber Jax in an elimination game. The tournament continues today with the consolation championship game at 10 a.m., the third-place contest and noon and the championship matchup at 2 p.m.
Oktaha 5, Latta 4
The Tigers were cruising behind hurler Maddox Edwards, who tossed six straight shutout innings with his team leading 5-0.
Two OHS errors and base hits by Reese Littlefield and Landon Wolfe led to three Latta runs that trimmed its deficit to 5-3. Carson Abbott delivered a run-scoring hit to right field that drove in a run. Pinch-runner Ryder Perry represented the tying run at second base with just one out, but the Panthers couldn't complete the comeback.
The Panthers actually out-hit Oktaha 8-6. Abbott led the way, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jackson Presley, Hunter Price, Landon Fortner and Jett Hudson also had hits for the locals.
Kipton Christian led Oktaha at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. Maddox Edwards went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, while Darren Ledford finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
Edward was the winning pitcher for the Tigers. He struck out five, walked none and allowed no earned runs.
Darien Miller absorbed the loss for Latta. He struck out two, walked two and allowed three earned runs in four innings. Price pitched two shutout innings of relief for Latta. He struck out three and walked one.
There were nine errors in the contest — six by Oktaha and three by Latta.
Tupelo 5, Wright City 1
Tupelo ace Cody Airington turned in a spectacular mound performance in the victory. He struck out 12, walked three and allowed just one earned run in the complete-game outing.
Taecyn Meek led Tupelo at the plate. He finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Airington cranked a solo home run for the Tigers, while Dalton O'Dell went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Cash Wafford and Colton Bourland also had hits for the locals, while Petyon Bills scored twice.
Deacon McKeever had the lone hit for the Lumber Jax.
