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Warriors take first place in loaded Jones tournament

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Washington’s pitching dazzled during the Warriors’ run to the championship at the Jones baseball tournament.

“We had three outings on the mound that were really good,” said Washington head coach Jeff Kulbeth.

Washington opened the tournament Thursday with 6-3 win over Holland Hall.

Luke Keltner got the nod on the bump. After giving up two home runs early he settled in for a solid outing.

“I was really happy with how he responded,” Kulbeth said. “He settled in after giving up a couple home runs and pitched really, really well.”

Keltner struck out three batters in five innings before Bobby Reese came on in relief.

Holland Hall scored one run in the first inning and two in the third.

The Warriors didn’t score until they tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth inning. They took the lead in the fifth inning with another three-run spurt.

Shiloh Christian

Washington next faced another Tulsa-area team in Shiloh Christian and came away with a 3-0 victory.

Aden Hyde was fantastic on the mound in a seven-inning shutout. He was efficient in his 74-pitch outing.

“He was dialed in and pitched really well,” Kulbeth said. 

Hyde struck out five in the win.

The Washington skipper was also highly complimentary of his catcher Kane Springer.

“I gotta give Kane some credit,” Kulbeth said. “He’s calling pitches and he’s in command of the (pitching) staff right now.”

Camden Bates, Colin Pelton  and Dax McCaskill scored the Warriors’ three runs.

Lincoln Christian

Washington met Lincoln Christian in the finals on Saturday. 

They overcame five errors to take a 6-5 win and the tournament championship.

“We had a couple costly plays that let them grab the early lead,” Kulbeth said.

Lincoln Christian scored three runs in the first inning and one in the third before Washington finally pushed one across home plate in the third themselves.

The Warriors scored two in the fourth and three in the sixth while holding Lincoln Christian to one more run the rest of the way.

Pelton started the game on the mound and went three innings.

“We didn’t help him (on defense) early,” Kulbeth said. “We had a couple bumpy innings defensively but overcame it.”

Washington help overcome early mistakes thanks in part to the arm of freshman Easton Berglan.

“Berglan came in and pitched really well,” Kulbeth said. 

The youngster struck out six batters in four innings.

“Hopefully we’re finding our stride at the right time,” Kulbeth said. “We’re competing right now. We were down 3-0 the first day and 4-0 the second day and we had some guys find their way.”

Bates had a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give Washington the lead for good.

Kulbeth likes where his team is at this point in the season. 

“If we can pitch it and do damage with the bats we’ll be good. We’re pretty good on the base paths and we’ve been manufacturing some runs and the kids have all bought in.”

Bethel

Washington picked up two more wins Monday in a double header against Bethel. It was also senior night.

They won 5-4 in the first game and 14-4 in the second.

Reese had nine strike outs in 4 1/3 innings. Hyde came on in relief and had four Ks in 2 2/3 innings in the first game.

Bates went 2-3 with an RBI and Emitt Wilk went 2-4.

Keltner started the second game on the mound and fanned eight batters. In relief, Bates struck out another three.

Bates and McCaskill each had two ribbies.

Notes

Bates was selected as the Jones tournament MVP.

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