Musial title dream ends for Doenges squad, Legion tourney next

Former baseball legend Stan Musial — who knew how to dream big — has been gone 11 years.

On Thursday, the Bartlesville Doenges Ford 19-and-under baseball team saw its Musial dream die at the hands of the Tulsa Sandlots, 7-2, in the summer season finale at renowned Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium and its showcase diamond, Rigdon Field.

The loss eliminated Bartlesville from the Stan Musial World Series tournament and pushed the program one giant step closer to the end of its campaign.

But the season still has breathing room remaining for the Doenges Ford battlers — the Oklahoma American Legion State Tournament, set for next week in Ada. At stake will be a spot in the American Legion Mid-South Regional.

This year’s Bartlesville squad has the chance to win the team’s first Legion state title since 1978 and its first regional championship since 1969.

No one could fault the gritty effort Thursday night in the Musial tourney pool championship game. Bartlesville trailed by only three runs, 5-2, through six innings. But the Sandlots added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh and smothered the Doenges Ford players’ hopes for a major comeback in the bottom of the seventh.

Matt Winters started on the mound for Bartlesville and carried a shutout into the fourth inning after Bartlesville had inched to a 1-0 lead in the first frame.

But Tulsa’s offense got on a roll in the top of the fourth to score three runs. It would have been worse if not for a spectacular catch by center fielder Luke Fox. The human lightning bolt flashed back toward the stately green cement outfield walls, and at the last possible moment elongated his arm and glove and plucked the meteoric line drive out of the air like a quick-tongued frog nabbing a streaking fly.

The Sandlots emerged from the fourth inning leading, 3-1.

Thanks to Winters and his first reliever Grant Clark, Tulsa didn’t pull away in the middle innings. That allowed Bartlesville a fighting chance to catch up and overtake the Sandlots on the scoreboard.

The inability to produce the clutch hit, however, thwarted Doenges Ford’s valiant rally efforts.

In the bottom of the fourth, Bartlesville loaded the bases on three-straight walks — Kaleb Bashford, Nik Johnson and Trey Bennett. But Tulsa then made a pitching change and the new hurler got the next batter to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Sandlot made a true two-out uprising in the top of the fifth to add two insurance runs and extend the margin to 5-1.

Bartlesville answered by mounting a threat in the bottom of the fifth, on a walk by Eli Winters and an opposite-field single by Haden Fiddler, who tomahawked the ball into right field. But for the second-straight inning, a double play slammed the door on a Bartlesville rally.

Undeterred, the Doenges do-gooders sang another comeback tune in the bottom of the sixth after Eric Olenberger led off by reaching on an error. Two batters later Bashford walked to set the stage for Johnson. He grounded out to drive home courtesy runner Liam Buchanan to trim Tulsa’s lead to 5-2 and send Bashford to third base. He would be left stranded.

Tulsa tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, Bartlesville batters went down in order to end the game.

Bartlesville had its five-game win streak ended and fell to 20-13-1.

Players and fans lingered in the stadium for several minutes, soaking in the evaporating ambiance of the final home game of the summer for the hearty and determined Doenges Ford warriors and their coaching staff, led by manager/head coach John Pannell.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Musial title dream ends for Doenges squad, Legion tourney next