Norman High baseball: Late run helps Tigers chase down Lions in district opener
Mar. 8—The Tigers slowly chipped away at an early two-run deficit before Trace Redwine brought in the winning run on a single in the sixth inning during Norman High's district opener against Moore on Monday.
The Lions were held scoreless for the final six innings after picking up a pair of runs in the top of the first. NHS starting pitcher Clayton Moore came back after giving two hits in the first inning and didn't allow another batter on base until the sixth inning.
The sophomore pitched through the frame and was replaced by Hunter Hayes. In his six innings pitched, Moore struck out seven batters and walked two while allowing four hits.
Ryan Huntley and Harrison Smith each had singles to get the Tigers' offense rolling in the first inning. Two batters later, the Lions' pitcher was called for a balk with the bases loaded and Norman High was able to cut the deficit to one.
Ben Huntely tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a ground ball from Jack Poarch. Redwine was able to score Dax Noles on a ground ball to the shortstop with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Lions were threatening to score with one out remaining in the bottom of the seventh inning. Hayes walked Moore's Brok James, who stole second in the next at-bat. Hayes battled for six pitches before forcing a groundout for the second out of the inning.
Keegan Brashears pinch hit for the Lions and Hayes was able to get him to strike out swinging in four pitches to help the Tigers hold on for a 3-2 win.
Both teams finished the game with four hits, but the Lions finished with two errors, which proved to be costly. James was the only batter to have an extra base hit.
The Tigers (3-0) will be looking for a sweep in the two-game series on Tuesday, when they face Moore on the road at 4:30 p.m.
Norman North suffers first loss to Edmond Santa Fe
A six-run fourth inning appeared to have the Norman North on the verge of a big comeback win before three scoreless innings handed the T-Wolves their first loss of the season on Monday.
Trailing 8-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the T-Wolves led off the inning with two walks and an RBI-single by Brodie Finlay. After the score, Edmond Santa Fe's Kade Shatwell was replaced by Nick Noble.
The Timberwolves loaded up the bases on the next at-bat and Jack Bucholz stepped up and scored two runs on a ground ball single. Edmond Santa Fe made another pitching change later in the inning with the T-Wolves trailing 8-7 with two outs.
Seefeldt was able to close out the inning without allowing another score. The T-Wolves were held scoreless over the final three innings as Seefeldt struck out five batters and allowed two hits and no walks.
Norman North finished with five hits, with all of those coming after the third inning.
Norman North (1-1) will play Edmond Santa Fe again on Tuesday in a road game starting at 5 p.m.
Tarik Masri is a sports reporter for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com.