Greenwood Bulldogs Baseball In Pryor, Oklahoma Tournament

By: Brian Vaughn
   Not many in Pryor, Oklahoma knew where Greenwood was at the beginning of the tournament, but a few days and games later. They not only knew where Greenwood was at, but who the Bulldogs were, as they became the "Class Act" of the tournament representing Greenwood.
   The Greenwood Bulldog baseball team moved to 15-5 overall after taking 3 of 4 games in the Pryor, Oklahoma tournament.
Wednesday the Diamond Dogs faced off against the host school Pryor Tigers.
   Mark Leon pitched 6-innings for the Bulldogs giving up only 3 hits and posting 6 strikeouts before being relieved by Cory Allison in the top of the 7th with the game tied at 3-3.
   With only one out, the Tiger's centerfielder came up and stroked one over the left center fence. A couple walks and hits later the Tigers were up 5-3 with 2 on and still only one out.
Bulldog head coach Craig Jones put the next batter on to load the bases and give the Bulldogs a force play. The coach's strategy worked to perfection as the next batter hit blooper back to Cory, who in turn flipped it to Casey Benincosa the Bulldog catcher. Benincosa threw to the first baseman Mark Leon for the 1-2-3 double play.
   Down by 2 the Bulldogs took to the plate for their final at bat. After a pitching change by the Tigers, Justin Fuchs took a walk to start the Bulldogs off.
   Ed Woods popped a fly to centerfield only to have the Tiger centerfielder commit the only error on them for the night.
Micah Fritsche laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Fuchs and Woods around.
   The Bulldogs 1 out, 2 on base and down by 2 in the bottom of the 7th.
   Mark Leon would do his part next hitting a hard single to left center to send two in to tie the game 5-5.
   The Bulldogs would once again load the bases off hits by Daniel Stegall and Cory Allison.
   The Tigers walked Jantzen Black after another pitching change to give the Bulldogs the win 6-5.
   Mark Leon was 2 or 4 with 2 RBI's, Cory Allison 1 for 2 with 2 RBI's and Casey Benincosa was 1 for 4 with 2 RBI's.
   In the first game on Friday afternoon with 5 seniors back in Greenwood taking part in the Mr. and Mrs. GHS pageant, Justin Fuchs and Jantzen Black shared the pitching duties for the Bulldogs in a 16-2 mercy rule 5-inning contest against Stigler.
   The Diamond Dogs posted 15 hits in the game, while the pitching duo only gave up 3 hits.
   Tieler Driscoll was 2 for 2 with 2 RBI's, Jantzen Black was 2 or 3 with 3 RBI's, Casey Benincosa 2 for 3 with 1 RBI, Taylor Sterling 2 for 4 and Joseph Piroutek 2 for 3 with an RBI.
   In the nightcap the Bulldogs faced of against Locust Grove.
With a young squad on the field, there were several errors, but no giving up as the Dogs took an exciting 6-5 win.
   Casey Benincosa earned his 5th win of the season from the mound going all 7-innings, posting 9 strikeouts and scattering 5 hits.
   Justin Fuchs started the game with an exciting 2 run homer in the 1st-inning. Austin Efurd led the Bulldog offense going 3 for 4 with 2 RBI's.
   The Bulldogs emerged from round robin play as the only undefeated team in the tournament. With three teams tied for the second position, each with one loss, the tie break went to the hometown boys of Pryor for the championship game on Saturday night, setting up a rematch of the fantastic match-up from Wednesday night.
   The Bulldogs down 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Ed Woods gave the Dogs one more chance when he smashed a 2 out 2 run homer over the fence.
The luck would be on Pryor's side though in this rematch as the Bulldogs would come up one run short falling 6-5 to the Tigers.
   Cory Allison pitched 5-innings, with 5 strikeouts. Daniel Stegall in relief pitching 2-innings posted 3 strikeouts and gave up no hits.
   Ed Woods was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI's, Casey Benincosa 1 for 4 with 2 RBI's, Cory Allison and Daniel Stegall both were 2 for 4 on the night.
   The Diamond Dogs step back into conference play Thursday at 4:00 as they travel to Siloam Springs for a doubleheader.