In one day, the Tahlequah Tigers felt all the highs and lows of the game of baseball.
In a doubleheader Thursday, March 27, the Tigers fought back against the Wagoner Bulldogs for a walk-off win, despite trailing by 5-2 at one point. In the second game, the Tigers lost 12-0 to Branson in a shortened contest.
“We talked to the guys about how every pitch is importan;t take the scoreboard out of it,” THS coach Cody Pair said.
Throughout the game with the Bulldogs, the Tigers fought back after falling into an early hole. Runners in the third, fourth and fifth didn’t come around to score, but started to show the Tigers were battling.
In the fifth inning, the Tigers broke through, tying the game 7-7.
“We just kept telling our guys to fight,” Pair said. “They scored in the first and second, and we had opportunities to score. I told them I didn’t think we were fighting as hard as we could, to go in there and fight. If we went down swinging at a tough pitch, OK, we wanted them to fight. We didn’t score in the third and fourth, but we had a much better approach.”
After a rally from the Bulldogs to retake the lead, the Tigers had some unlikely players step up. Three freshmen – Michael Torkelson, Will Talburt and Kohlson Caldwell – all reached base, setting up Cutter Girdner.
With the bases loaded, Girdner ripped a fastball to the outfield, clearing the bases and taking the walk-off win.
“I was really looking for a fastball to hit; the coach gave me the green light so I was looking to do damage,” Girdner said.
When Girdner steps to the plate, Pair knows he can connect on a big hit.
“I thought it was going to pay off, then the five spots paid off,” Pair said. “I look up and we have three freshmen on base, Cutter made a big swing. Cutter does Cutter things.”
This season, Girdner has been part of a group of players to lead the Tigers. Including the short stop, THS is fronted by Levi Kelly and Synjin Sampson. All three players have been important at the plate, field and/or mound this season.
In 42 at-bats, Girdner leads the Tigers with a .619 batting average, with a 1.667 on-base plus slugging percentage. Sampson is next for the Tigers with a .583 average.
“Cutter is one of the guys who has been really good,” Pair said. “Synjin has been on fire at the plate. When they get up there, I like what is going to happen. I just feel very confident in those two; they go up and make good swings.”
Even though the Tigers lost the doubleheader, Girdner’s bat was still hot. In the third inning, the shortstop ripped another double to the outfield.
“I was seeing the ball well, making sure I could get a fastball over the middle of the plate and have a disciplined approach,” Girdner said. “Just waiting to hit a fastball, I’m pretty good at that.”
After a hard-fought win, the next game wasn’t as kind to the Tigers.
Taking on the Branson Pirates, the Tigers were shut out.
The Pirates scored early and often, picking up two runs in the first, three runs in the second and four runs in the third. BHS capped off the game with a trio of runs to close out the game.
“This last game, we didn’t pitch as well as we need to, and that’s hard,” Pair said. “We talked to the guys and said, ‘It doesn’t matter what goes on out there, we need to make the play and go fight at the plate.’ They had a good right hander going, and he is really tough. It made the second game a lot longer.”
As the season goes on, the Tigers are looking to improve each day. One of Pair’s mottos is getting better 1% each day, and the Tigers have started to do that recently with an outbreak in hits in the lineup.
“We have four or five guys going up there, making good swings,” Pair said. “We will take what we get out of it.”
The Tigers return to the diamond at 5 p.m. on the ...
