Tri-County explodes past SE Oklahoma

By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
August 3, 2002
Tri-County (Texas) exploded for seven runs in the third inning on Friday afternoon and scored four more in the fifth to run-rule Southeast Oklahoma 13-2 in the second game of the Babe Ruth 14-year-old Southwest Regional Baseball Tournament held at Meridian Community College's Scaggs Field.
Tri-County took advantage of errors by Southeast Oklahoma to score runs and got good pitching from John Wooten and Trey Wegenhoft to move on in the winners' bracket.
Tri-County jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning because of a Southeast Oklahoma error. With two outs in the inning, Chris Andreas struck out on a pitch in the dirt. The throw to first by the catcher went high and Andreas reached base. After Andreas stole second, Jared Trojacek had an RBI double to make the score 1-0.
Tri-County scored seven runs in the third to blow the game open. Jason Gurka had an infield single and stole second. A wild pitch allowed Gurka to move to third and Tyler Supak walked and stole second. Gurka scored by avoiding the tag at home after another wild pitch. Trojacek knocked in Supak with a single to make the score 3-0.
Justin Barnes reached when his pop-up fell safely on the infield. Southeast Oklahoma had a chance to get out of the inning when Wooten hit a ground ball, but the first baseman missed the throw to allow a run to score. Tyler Janak followed with a walk and Matt Guthmann singled in a run to make the score 5-0. Gurka had a two-run single and then Supak had an RBI single to make the score 8-0.
Tri-County scored another run in the fourth when Trojacek walked and scored on a single by Barnes.
Southeast Oklahoma scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jonathan Bradley singled and stole two bases to reach third. Curbie Weaver struck out but reached first on the wild pitch. Mike Compton hit a drive to centerfield and the outfield had the ball bounce off his glove to allow two runs to score.
Tri-County used wild pitches and two errors to score four in the fifth to finish off the game. Supak and Barnes each had a sacrifice fly in the inning.
Southeast Oklahoma will face North Randall (Texas) at 2 p.m. today in the losers' bracket. Tri-County will be in action again on Sunday when they face Bentonville, Ark., at 11 a.m.