Tigers top Tyrone twice on Tuesday

March 7, 2012

Austin Stonecipher swings at a pitch by Cole Wall in the first game against Tyrone. He caught Rodriguez in the first game which the Tigers won 15-0. Staff Photo/Kjestine Steinbring

GUYMON - On a beautiful day for baseball Tyrone traveled to Guymon’s field to play against the Tiger J.V. After Guymon had a tough doubleheader against Bishop-McGuiness on Monday it was the exact opposite on Tuesday.
Richie Rodriguez pitched the entire first game for the Tigers throwing for four innings with nine strikeouts and only four hits. One of those Tyrone hits was a double early in the first inning and an error got the runner to third base.
That would be one of four that Tyrone would get, with two coming later in the fourth inning. At that point Guymon had the game securely in their grasp, but Tyrone had runners on second and third with two outs looking like they would finally score.
A strikeout by Rodriguez shut that thought down. Offensively the Tigers were able to really work the pitchers and got themselves into hitter’s counts. Austin Stonecipher hit a triple and a single in the game scoring. Meanwhile Rodriguez helped his own cause with a double in the second inning.
For Tyrone this season is just their third season with a baseball program, and all the challenges that go with being a young program still occur.
“I admire Coach Witt, being in their third year of the program and still teaching these players how to play the game is great,” said Guymon coach Dave O”Sullivan.
Guymon was able to finish off the first game in five innings with a 15-0 win. In the second game of the doubleheader Isaac Grove got the start for the Tigers.
While the outcome was the same, Tyrone was able to score in the fourth inning to get a run against the Tigers. Focusing on fundamentals and doing things right in games is something that coach O’Sullivan is trying to work with his younger players on.
“We told the guys to slow the game down, to work on batting one pitch at a time, and to have a short memory if you make a mistake,” said O’Sullivan. “You still have to field the ball, set your feet and make the play. And these players are just one accident away from playing on varsity so we work on those things everyday.”
Stonecipher finished off pitching the game for Guymon and worked on his pitches. James Costner got on base in the second game as well as Sammy Thang. The next J.V. game will be on March 19 against Beaver at 4:30 p.m.