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Bucs Fall To Hennessey In Regional Final
HENNESSEY — The Tonkawa baseball team saw their season come to a disappointing end Friday as they fell to the Hennessey Eagles 6-5 in the regional finals. Overall the Bucs went 2-2 at the regional losing their first game of the tournament to Hennessey 11-5 on Thursday then battling through the losers’ bracket with a 12-6 win over the Union City Tigers Thursday night and a 7-5 victory over the Alva Goldbugs Friday afternoon to make it to the tournament finals.
On Thursday the Bucs opened the tournament with their game against Hennessey at 11 a.m. and after losing the game the Bucs were placed into a game that was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. In the second game of the day however Alva knocked off Union City 18-17 in a four-hour, 11-inning game that didn’t end until 5:30 p.m. In a game between the winners Hennessey then beat Alva 22-4 finally putting Tonkawa back in action against Union City at 8:15 p.m. over three hours past the originally scheduled start time.
In the opener Tonkawa fell behind early as starter Ben Hook gave up three runs in the top of the first then four in the second and two in the third as the Eagles raced out to a big 9-0 lead. Hook was pulled after the third inning giving way to reliever Reece Simpson. After Simpson shut down Hennessey in the fourth and fifth innings Tonkawa got on the board in a big way in the bottom half of the fifth.
Brekken Grein started off the inning with a single to center and after Nate Franklin was hit by a pitch and Brandon Hurst drew a walk the Bucs had the bases loaded with no outs. After Hurst scored on a balk, Gage Martin was hit by a pitch loading the bases again, this time for leadoff hitter Jacob McMillen. McMillen came through with a big bases-clearing double down the left field line bringing the score to 9-4. After Simpson grounded out to move McMillen to third Trent Ellis ripped a single into center scoring McMillen and cutting the score down to 9-5.
Lady Bucs Track Team Finishes Second At State
MIDWEST CITY — The Tonkawa boys and girls track teams competed at the Class 2A state meet this past weekend. The Lady Bucs took home second place as a team with 92.25 team points finishing behind only Hennessey who won the state title with 120 team points. This is the second-straight season that the Lady Bucs have finished in second place behind Hennessey at the state meet. The boys meanwhile took sixth place as a team with 33 team points.
Omega Reese led the way for the Lady Bucs. Reese won the 400 with a time of 57.85 and also came away with first in the 800 with a time of 2:15.64.
Reese was also a member of Tonkawa’s 4x400-meter relay and 4x800-meter relay both of which took first at state. The 4x400 team won with a time of 4:09.81 while the 4x800 team won with a time of 9:49.23. Both teams were comprised of Reese, Chandler Tarrant, Kenzie Cranford and Deborah Means.
Cranford also came away with a first place finish for the Lady Bucs taking home the title in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.84. With the win Cranford became a back-to-back champion in the event after wining the title last year as well.
Tarrant took home two medals as an individual finishing in third in the 1600 and second in the 3200. Tarrant’s time in the 1600 was 5:36.95 while her time in the 3200 was 12:32.86
Means also medaled as an individual taking fourth in the 400 with a time of 1:00.80.
Katie Hurst and Taylor McAreavey rounded out the list of medalists for the Lady Bucs. Both Hurst and McAreavey medaled in the high jump with Hurst taking fourth with a mark of 5-00 and McAreavey finishing in sixth with a mark of 4-10.
On the boys side of things the Bucs may have finished in sixth as a team but they did have several medalists.
Kiefer Starr was the highest finisher for the Bucs taking second in the pole vault with a mark of 12-00. Brandon Hurst was the other Tonkawa boys athlete to medal as an individual taking sixth in the 1600 with a time of 4:52.31.
Tonkawa also took home third place medals in both the 4x400-meter relay and the 4x800-meter relay. The 4x400 team finished with a time of 3:34.69 while the 4x800 team finished with a time of 8:30.77.
Chisholm Tops Bucs At Perry Tournament
PERRY — After being postponed for several days the Tonkawa Bucs baseball team finally got a game in at the Perry Festival on Friday. The Bucs took on the Chisholm Longhorns and lost a 3-1 pitchers’ duel. The loss drops the Bucs to 1-3 on the year.
Sophomore right-hander Ben Hook got the start for the Bucs throwing a complete game allowing just three hits. Mike Coleman meanwhile got the nod for the Longhorns and also threw a complete game giving up just two hits.
The lone Tonkawa run came in the top of the first inning. The Bucs got singles from both Reece Simpson and Brekken Grein and when shortstop Trent Ellis was hit by a pitch the bases were loaded for Hook. Hook struck out but when strike three got past the Chisholm catcher Simpson scampered in to score.
The lead would be short-lived however as Chisholm answered in the bottom half of the frame. The Longhorns got all three of their hits in the in the inning including a double from Coleman. Despite the three hits and one Bucs’ error Chisholm only scored two runs in the inning, leaving two runners on base.
From there on out the two pitchers matched each other zero for zero until the bottom of the sixth when Chisholm managed to scratch out one more run on a walk no hits and a Tonkawa error. The run gave the Longhorns a 3-1 lead and it was more than enough of a cushion for Coleman.
The Chisholm pitcher wasted no time in the seventh, and despite Simpson reaching on an error, cruised to another scoreless inning giving the Longhorns the win.
Tonkawa won’t have much time to get over the loss as they hit the diamond again Monday for a home game against the Blackwell Maroons. Monday’s game is slated to begin at 4 p.m.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | ||
| Tonkawa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Chisholm | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 3 | 3 | 3 |
DCLA Girls 1st, Tonkawa Girls 2nd In State Meet
MIDWEST CITY — Two area track teams placed very highly in state competition at Carl Albert High School this weekend. The Deer Creek-Lamont Lady Eagles took home the Class 1A girls state title with 96 total team points just edging out rival Timberlake who finished in second with 83.5 team points. The Tonkawa Lady Bucs also finished high taking home second place at the Class 2A state meet with 92.25 team points finishing behind only Hennessey who won the state title with 120 team points. This is the second-straight season that the Lady Bucs have finished in second place behind Hennessey at the state meet. Several other area teams had athletes bring home medals at the two state meets.
Leading the way for the DCLA girls was Marian Muegge who finished in first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.59 and first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.28. Muegge was also a member of the 4x100-meter the 4x400-meter relay teams both of which took home second place.
Also earning a first place medal at state for the DCLA girls was Marian’s sister Katherine Muegge. Katherine took home first in the pole vault with a mark of 10-00.
The 4x800-meter relay team of Baleigh Hutchison, Chi Anne Jeffries, Lindsey Campbell and Jessica Blanton also earned a first place medal. The team won the event with a time of 10:17.41.
Other placers for the Lady Eagles were Campbell and Katy Starr. Campbell earned a fifth place medal in the long jump with a mark of 15-04.25 while Starr finished in fourth place in the shot put with a throw of 33-08.
The DCLA boys meanwhile had three athletes medal at state. The highest DCLA boys finish came in the shot put where Lawson Thompson finished in third place with a mark of 44-09. Landon Tingley earned a fifth place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.60 while Jacob Blanton took sixth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:51.08.
In other Class 1A action the Frontier Lady Mustangs finished in sixth overall while the Woodland Lady Cougars took tenth.
Frontier’s Jalissa Gum earned all 28 of her team’s points at state taking home first in the 400 and 800 and finishing in second place in the 200. Gum turned in a time of 1:00.49 in the 400, 2:21.40 in the 800 and 26.88 in the 200.
Lady Bucs Headed To State
The Tonkawa Lady Bucs will be taking on the Thomas-Fay-Custer Lady terriers Thursday in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament. Tonkawa comes in with a 27-1 record, with their only loss coming to Colcord in the area championship game. Thomas meanwhile is 22-1. The lone blemish on Thomas' schedule this season was a 38-27 loss to the Fairview Lady Yellowjackets, who also qualified for the state tournament.
Thursday's contest is slated to begin at 2 p.m. at Oklahoma City University. The earlier start time is something that Tonkawa head coach Mark Huster thinks will benefit his team.
"For us personally I think it's a good thing that we play at 2 because that way the girls don't have to think about it all day. I know some of the fans may not like the time because maybe they can't get off work but I think the sooner we get on the bus and to the gym the better," Huster said.