Mustangs rout Roff; complete sweep

Blain Davis pitched seven strong innings and Blayke Nunn drove in five runs as Fort Cobb-Broxton routed Roff, 9-4, Monday to capture the Class B State baseball title and cap an amazing sweep of three titles in one school year.

Davis wasn’t overpowering but the junior kept the Tigers off-balance all afternoon at Edmond Santa Fe High School and at times frustrated the Mustangs’ arch rival.

Nunn, a senior catcher, hit a double in the top of the third to tie the game at 3-3, then in the fifth he ripped another gap shot that drove in Eli Willits who had singled.

And the big man wasn’t done, ripping a 2-run single in the six to push the Mustangs’ lead to 8-3 and the large crowd of blue-clad Fort Cobb-Broxton fans started to sense the victory.

Head coach Dale Bellamy led his team to the fall and spring titles in one school year, plus most of the same players were on the State basketball championship team as well.

Bellamy had to give credit to his entire team but Davis drew special praise.

The right-hander entered the seventh inning having thrown just 77 pitches and while he fanned the first two Tigers, he then proceeded to hit three straight to load the bases.

He enticed the next batter to hit a ground ball but it was slowly hit and shortstop Jaxson Willits was unable to flip it to brother Eli for the out, allowing a Roff run to score.

But Davis just regrouped, got another ground ball and this time J. Willits had time to throw to his brother to start the celebration.

“There are guys who have some fear up here at state tournament games, but not Blaine,” Coach Bellamy said. “He’s our John Wayne; he wants the ball. That Roff name doesn’t scare him and he said give me the ball; I got this.”

Even when he loaded the bases by hitting three batters in the bottom of the seventh, his coach kept him out there.

“Hey, he had 30 pitches left and we were going to let him use every one if we needed,” the coach said. “He got himself in a jam but he came back and made great pitches to get them to hit a couple on the ground which is what we wanted.”

The Mustangs have J. Willits and others who have greater velocity but Davis has his own options.

“He changes speeds really well, he throws his fastball out of different arm slots and just keeps guys guessing at the plate,” Bellamy said. “He has a good curve and a wicked slider; that’s the pitch that got him some big outs today.”

The Willits brothers, who bat 1-2 in the lineup, just kept getting on base making it tough on the Tigers to avoid pitching to Nunn. They both singled before his third-inning double and those same three were involved in the deciding sixth.

“Those Willits brothers are our table setters and they lead this bunch,” Bellamy said. “They are rah, rah and keep everyone up and ready. When they get on base it’s just what we want.”

Bellamy said that Nunn had struggled at times in the state meet but not Monday.

“I think that Roff had seen that he had struggled some up here and they figured they might get around him but he just hammered the ball and drove in five runs,” he said. “That’s what it takes up here, you need guys to step up and help out.”

Another one was Tanner McAdoo, the Mustangs’ No. 9 hitter.

“I tell you what, Tanner getting on base there in the sixth with a walk was huge for us,” Bellamy said. “He helped turn the lineup over and give Jaxson a chance with the bases loaded.”

Willits got a single to score one run and when the Tigers committed an error it allowed a second run to score, however, but E. Willits was forced wide by the Roff third baseman and he and Coach Bellamy wound up in a pile in foul territory and the Tigers escaped further damage but the Mustangs had the runs they needed.’

Ironically Roff was the last team to sweep the fall and spring baseball titles, that coming in 2010.

Bellamy and assistant Jacob Denton led the Mustangs to a 27-4 record this season.