Tuley's walk-off hit propels Abilene Wylie past Oklahoma at Little League regional
WACO – Derek Tuley was one proud father Friday night.
Easton Tuley’s one-out, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Wylie to a 3-2 walk-off victory over Tulsa National at the Little League Southwest Regional baseball tournament at Norcross Stadium.
“Oh man, it was super exciting,” the elder Tuley, Wylie’s manager, said about his son’s game-winning hit. “We did a lot to put ourselves in the situation to get a game-winning hit. We had some tremendous arms that we faced tonight, and we grinded out a win.”
Wylie, one of two unbeaten teams left in the double-elimination tournament, won in its last at-bat for the second straight night.
Ceddrick Lara scored on a two-out wild pitch in the top of the seventh to beat Louisiana 4-3 in the opener Thursday.
This time, Louis Janusz got it started when he was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh. He took second on Myles McCarty’s ground out first and scored the game-winning run on Tuley’s single to left. Janusz beat the throw the home – a play that was close enough to be reviewed in the replay booth but stood.
“Easton was just looking for a hittable pitch,” the elder Tuley said. “He did a great job staying inside the baseball and doing the job. Louis was flying around the bases. He’s one of our top speed guys. Man, it was a great slide and great finish.”
Wylie, the Texas West state champion, plays Pearland, the Texas East state champion, at 4 p.m. Sunday for a berth in the title game. The game will be shown on ESPN.
Pearland beat Mississippi 6-4 on Friday, after crushing Arkansas 14-2 on Thursday.
Tulsa, the Oklahoma state champion, was coming off a 10-0 victory over Colorado and took a 1-0 lead on Cohen Sanford’s sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Wylie answered with a two-run outburst in the bottom of the second. Lara walked, and Heston Stanton reached on an error. Both scored on Jett Wilson’s double.
“Man, you could tell with his approach he was locked in,” Coach Tuley said. “Early in the count, he got a real good foul off. Later in that at-bat, he got a pitch over the plate. The kid’s throwing super hard, and he just knocked it in the gap. That was a big, big two-run shot.”
Tulsa tied the game on an error following Kellen Casper’s single in the fifth.
Tulsa had a golden opportunity to break the tie in the top of the seventh. Oklahoma had runners at first and third with one out, but Landon Cofer coaxed Tyler Klugh to pop up to second before striking out Hunter Hodges to end the threat.
“It was just a gritty performance from all our guys,” the elder Tuley said. “There was a lot of plays throughout the game that allowed us stay in it and give us a chance there at the end. Cofer coming in to strikeout one of their top three hitters with a curveball, perfect location, to leave a guy stranded at third. Just a lot of good, competitive spirit from your guys.”
That set up Tuley’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the inning.
Cofer, Wylie’s third pitcher of the game, got the win. He threw two scoreless innings, giving up a hit, striking out one and walking two. Janusz, Wylie’s starter, surrendered a run on two walks in three innings. He struck out two. Lara worked two innings in relief, allowing a run on two hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Hodges took the loss, allowing a run on two hits in 3.2 innings. He struck out nine and walked two. Tulsa starter Finley Kouplan gave up two runs on one hit. He struck out six and walked three.
Little League Southwest Regional
At Marvin Norcross Stadium, Waco
(All games on Longhorn Network, unless noted otherwise)
Thursday games
Game 1 – Starkville (Mississippi) 7, Albuquerque Eastdale (New Mexico) 1
Game 2 – Pearland (Texas East) 14, White Hall (Arkansas) 2
Game 3 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 10, Glenwood Springs Three Rivers (Colorado) 0
Game 4 – Abilene Wylie (Texas West) 4, Kenner Eastbank (Louisiana) 3
Friday games
Losers Bracket
Game 5 – White Hall (Arkansas) 9, Albuquerque Eastdale (New Mexico) 3
Game 6 – Kenner Eastbank (Louisiana) 8, Glenwood Springs Three Rivers (Colorado) 4
Winners Bracket
Game 7 – Pearland (Texas East) 6, Starkville (Mississippi) 4
Game 8 – Abilene Wylie (Texas West) 3, Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 2
Saturday games
Losers Bracket
Game 9 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 15, White Hall (Arkansas) 7
Game 10 – Starkville (Mississippi) 7, Kenner Eastbank (Louisiana) 5
Sunday games
Losers Bracket
Game 11 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) vs. Starkville (Mississippi) noon
Winners Bracket
Game 12 – Pearland (Texas East) vs. Wylie (Texas West), 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday games
Losers Bracket
Game 13 – Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday games
Championship
Game 14 – Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, noon (ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene Wylie deals Oklahoma first loss at Little League regional
