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July 3, 2009

Pitchers lead Pioneers to sweep of first day

Justin Hite — Stillwater NewsPress

It was a day for pitchers as the Stillwater Pioneers opened play at the Brad Holt Memorial Tournament on Thursday with back-to-back victories. The Pioneers beat Dewey 14-2 and topped Moore, 9-3.

Shane Brinker and Dalton Dowling combined to allow only five runs in two games as Stillwater rolled to two easy victories.

“Pitching was tremendous,” Stillwater coach Tony Holt said. “And we played well behind them. It’s no big secret on the success of baseball, you pitch and give yourself a chance.”

The Pioneers will face Okmulgee today at 4:30 p.m., preceding a ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Stillwater Majors’ American Legion 1989 state championship.

Brinker only allowed two runs on three hits while pitching all six innings in the victory against Dewey. Despite carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning, Brinker may have affected the win just as much with his bat. He was a home run short of the cycle, drove in a pair and scored three times.

Dowling continued Stillwater’s solid pitching effort by going the distance in the win against Moore. Just like his counterpart, Dowling went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to help his own cause.

“I told the kids, ‘Don’t be intimidated. Just come out and play the game the right way, play hard and compete and we’ll just take whatever happens,’” Holt said. “For the two games the kids went way above and beyond that.”

Dean Honeyman picked up two doubles and two RBIs on a 3-for-4 outing in the first game as the Pioneers — likely the youngest team in the tournament — surprised two teams that play summer ball at the legion level.

“We didn’t know what to expect coming in here because we don’t play these teams,” Holt said.

Stillwater scored during seven of the 12 innings they were at bat and three times scored four or more runs.

“We got it going and put some innings together and had a couple big innings the first game and then did the same thing the second game,” Holt said. “That’s a good sign.”

Holt said that although no team ever plays perfectly, the Pioneers played very clean in both games. Holt, who just finished his first season as the SHS baseball coach, turned to assistant coach Casey McCullough during the doubleheader to emphasize just how well his team was doing the little things.

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