Southerland no-hits Guthrie; state bid on line today

Jaxon Southerland pitched a seven-inning no-hitter to lead Elgin to a 3-0 Class 5A regional victory over Guthrie to force an “if” game Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Owls’ Nest in Elgin.

Southerland fanned three and walked three while holding the Bluejays at bay in the must-win contest.

The Owls gave Southerland all the offensive support he needed in the bottom of the fourth as Kason Meyer, who was batting in the No. 9 spot in the order, got a single that brought home two runs to give the Owls the lead. Tres Lorah added an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to arrange the final score.

The Owls struggled Thursday in the winner’s bracket finals against Guthrie, as they were routed by a 10-0 score as Coach Levi Garrett wound up using five pitchers to try and quell the red-hot Bluejays’ bats and to also spread the pitch counts out to save arms for today’s title game. Southerland and Guthrie ace Luke Hubbard, who went the distance in Thursday’s game for Guthrie, are ineligible to pitch Saturday but both teams have the remainder of their staffs available.

Mustangs earn another berth in title game

Fort Cobb-Broxton used RBI singles from Blaine Davis and Mason Luecht and Blaine Bellamy earned the pitching win as the Mustangs rolled into another Class B State championship game with a 4-1 decision over Stuart Friday at Moore High School.

Coach Dale Bellamy has already led his team to spring titles in 2021 and 2023, plus the Mustangs claimed fall baseball titles in 2022 and 2023. The Mustangs will face Calumet, which blanked Tupelo in Friday’s other semifinal game, at noon Saturday at Shawnee High Schoo.

Stuart grabbed an early 1-0 lead thanks to a double by Cody Cook but after that the Mustangs were in command.

Davis started the initial FC-B rally with a double and he came around to score on a Hornets’ error.

With B. Bellamy starting to set the Hornets down in order, Davis and Luecht got their chance at the plate with runners in scoring position and both came up with clutch RBIs.

Eli Willits, Davis, Bellamy, Kray Rogers and Braydon Davis all added hits in the winning cause.

Bellamy wound up going the distance on the mound, scattering five hits, walking one and striking out three. His teammates also provided errorless defense in support of their pitcher and they also turned a double play to stop one Stuart scoring opportunity.