WINGET UPDATE: Doenges wins Friday thriller, play at 8 p.m. Saturday; other game reports

Sometimes, you just got to keep plugging away.

That proved to be the secret of victory Friday night for the Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians.

Trailing 2-0 through four innings, the Indians grinded back on the opening day of the 63rd Annual Glen Winget Baseball Tournament to grab a 3-2 win against Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo.

Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium/Rigdon Field is the site of the four-day even that wraps up Monday.

Jace Thompson laced a thunderous double to left field to drive home Luke Fox for the winning run.

In the top of the seventh, S. Lewellen zinged a line drive single to center field to try to spark a Kickapoo rally with one out.

But, Indian relief pitcher Daniel Barham bore down like a diamond-tipped drill.

He struck out the next two batters — on three pitches each — to nail down the win.

Alan Covarrubias and Josh Weber also had turned in sweltering pitching outings for the Indians.

For Kickapoo, Brian Wamsher drove in two runs — one in two different innings — to give his team a boisterous bid for victory.

But, the Indians drew inspiration from the electricity of their fans and the flowing energy from the home ambiance of the Doenges mystique.

In other Friday tourney games, Three Rivers thumped the Bartlesville United Linen Braves, 9-1; Bryant (Ark.) outlasted the Fort Smith (Ark.) Sportsman team, 5-3; Springfield (Mo.) HIllcrest knocked off three-time finalist in the last three years, Mountain Home (Ark.) Lockeroom, 2-1; and the Southern Elevation Purple outlasted the Oklahoma Mudcats, 7-2.

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SATURDAY'S CONTESTS

Early on Saturday, Southern Elevation improved to 2-0 in the tourney by knocking off Springfield (Mo.) HIllcrest, 10-2.

In other scheduled games Saturday

Mountain Home took on the Mudcats, the Braves face Kickapoo at 3 p.m., Three Rivers and Bryant collide at 5:30 p.m. and the Indians and Fort Smith clash at 8 p.m.

A fireworks show is planned at approximately 10:30 p.m., immediately following the Indians-Fort Smith contest.

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GAME REPORTS

Following are summaries of other Friday and Saturday games.

More-detailed reports are planned in the Winget tourney follow-up next Tuesday.

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Three Rivers 9, United Linen Braves 1

For several innings, the Bartlesville United Linen Braves contended for what could have been an amazing upset.

But, the Three Rivers Bandits — one of the favorites to challenge for a semifinal spot — finished on a strong gust of offense to win.

The Braves trailed by only one run, 2-1, through three-and-a-half-innings against a Three Rivers team with college-aged veterans.

The Bandits increased their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth, allowing the Braves to hang around on the periphery of a what would have been a doable comeback.

Three Rivers put the game away, however, with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to evoke the run-rule victory.

The run-rule goes into effect if one of the teams leads by eight runs after the fifth inning.

The Braves (12-15) made solid contact with the ball, led by Jaxon Zaun with a double and Christian Hernandez with two singles.

In the top of the third, Daygan West drove home Zaun for the Braves run.

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Southern Elevation Purple 7, Oklahoma Mudcats 2

Twice Southern Elevation put itself within a whisper of whisking away with a run-rule win.

But, a baserunning miscue and the lack of a clutch hit forced the game to go the limit and allowed the ‘Cats to break up the shutout with a two-run uprising in the seventh.

Truth was that other than a couple hiccups Southern Elevation roared to victory.

Blayde Wilkerson led the attack with three singles and a RBI, followed by Braden Harper and Jace Brandenburg with two hits and a RBI each.

Starting Elevation pitcher Tyler Stelly allowed only three hits and one walk in five shutout innings.

Mayson Thomas finished up the final two innings while facing an inspired Mudcat squad.

In the top of the seventh, nine-hole hitter Carter Simpson beat out in infield single to fuel the Mudcats last-gasp sting.

Ethan Bowen drove home Simpson, on a two-out hit; Tyler Winery than singled home Bowen.

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Southern Elevation Purple 10, Springfield Hillcrest 2

In a game of first-day winners, the Purple burst out to a 9-0 lead in the first two innings and never looked back.

Braden Harper crushed a two-run homer to help jump-start the Purple’s assault out of the gate.

Wilkerson added a triple and a single and drove in two runs.

Jaxon Lee and Thomas also both triples and Lathan Ferris added a double.

Zach Metford gave the Purple another quality start on the bump. He allowed only two hits and one walk — and no runs — in 3.0 innings. Blake Storts finished up the final two innings.

Hillcrest reliever Ethan Lewis shut town the Purple in the final 2.1 innings, giving up just three hits, no walks and one run.

Braxton Baker and Kannan Brayfield drove in a run apiece for Hillcrest.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: A look at the Winget tourney results through Friday, early Saturday