Pocola, Talihina stay alive

By CRAIG HALL
HEAVENER—Only half the teams in the baseball LeFlore County Tournament are still in contention for the championship.

That is because half of the teams were eliminated in losers’ bracket games played Tuesday at Heavener and Talihina.

At Heavener, Cameron pounded Panama, 15-0, Pocola eliminated LeFlore, 10-2 in the first two games. That set up what was expected to be a tight game between Pocola and Cameron, which turned out to be all Pocola as the Indians advanced with a 11-1 win.

In games at Talihina, Whitesboro bounced Arkoma, 8-0, Talihina downed Howe, 11-1 and in the final game, Talihina stayed alive with a 16-6 win over Whitesboro.

Photo by CRAIG HALL Cameron's Chance Jackson slams a hit in the Yellow Jackets' win over Panama.

The top four seeds play Wednesday at Talihina. Top-seed Poteau faces fourth-seed Wister at 3 p.m. and second-seeded Spiro takes on third-seeded Heavener at 5 p.m.

Pocola and Talihina get a well-deserved break after playing four games in two days.

The game between Pocola and Cameron was expected to be a battle. The Indians’ bats had been slumping while the Yellow Jackets were playing good ball and played Heavener to a 1-0 decision Monday night.

But Pocola’s bats came alive early as Austin Parker doubled and was knocked in by Miguel Mobley to take an early lead. The floodgates soon opened for Pocola as the Indians used some good hitting and Cameron errors to blow the game open.

The key blow was a single by Derek Kannady with the bases loaded. After an error in left field, the bases emptied and Cameron started making mistakes it had not made all tournament.

Pocola will face the loser of the Wister-Poteau game while Talihina will take on the loser of the Heavener and Spiro game.