Sometimes, all it takes is one half-inning to change the course of an entire baseball game.
That’s exactly what happened to Durant High School on Wednesday night, as a 5-3 loss to Sickles knocked the Cougars out of the postseason.
Things were going well for the Cougars for a little while, though: starter Bryce Gainer threw four solid innings to start the game, and the offense got going in the third inning when Garrett Wright singled to drive Justin Nardello home. With two men on base, Luke Heyer hit a two-RBI double and put the Cougars ahead, 3-0.
Sickles, however, responded in the fifth with an attack that was just too much for Durant to overcome. After a balk that sent a man to third base, the Gryphons got on the board with Xavier Rodriguez’s RBI single and, with two men already on, Levi Gilcrease blasted a three-run homer. To add some cushion, Elias Iglesias hit an RBI single shortly afterward to make it a 5-3 game.
The Cougars did have a great chance to tie in the seventh, loading up the bases with two outs, but couldn’t seal the deal.
