Grand Opening

Majors receive unexpected held

Christopher Shelton — Stillwater NewsPress

Stillwater Majors’ Dalton Wilson was feeling some déjà vu in his bat Thursday night against Dewey.

Reminiscent of his breakout game against the Arkansas City Black Diamonds on June 6, Wilson cranked out a pair of two-run homers to lift the Majors to a 9-8 victory in their first game of the 18th Annual Brad Holt Memorial American Legion Baseball Tournament. The Majors won their second game 11-3 against the Moore Shockers.

Almost a month ago, Wilson hit the elusive grand slam, and Thursday he found that offensive zone again.

“It was just like last time,” he said. “I just felt it (Thursday). I’ve had a big problem. I tried to hit in the cage and try to fix it. It ended up being my swing, so I tried to fix that. Lately, in the past couple of games, I’ve been hitting the ball and things have been going pretty well.”

To top his standout performance off, Wilson came up with the even more elusive inside-the-park home run when he shot one over Dewey center fielder Chris Baker’s head. Baker made a valiant leap for the ball but fell short as Wilson rounded the bases. The homer gave the Majors (14-11) their 9-8 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

“He just keeps building confidence in himself,” Majors coach Colt Ferguson. “In the past five or six games now, he’s been swinging the bat really well for us. That gives us more options to do things when he’s swinging the bat and playing great defense. It puts us in a position to win ball games.”

Wilson’s homers were part of his 2-for-2 effort as he was hit by a pitch in his second at bat. After being hit, he stole second and was brought home by third baseman Tripp Callaway, who went 3-for-3, all of which were RBI singles. First baseman Jacob Vogt added a solo homer over left field in the second.

In the Majors’ second game, newcomer Drew Littleton started hot on the mound after joining the team recently. He threw two picture-perfect innings as six consecutive Shockers fell, four swinging and two looking.

Then the seams appeared to burst in the third inning. Moore first baseman Ryan Rathbun reached first base on an error, and Littleton walked four other Shockers through the inning’s three outs to walk in two for Moore before closing the inning.

“I had a lot of confidence coming out,” Littleton said. “I tried to throw strikes low, keep them away from the batters. Then I came into the third inning, and since I hadn’t played in a while, my arm wasn’t in shape and I just had to drive through it.”

The fourth inning helped get the pitcher back on his feet. He worked himself into a mild pickle, allowing one run on two hits and a walk. Then with runners on first and second, Moore center fielder Adam Iago shot a line drive to second baseman Casey Barrier, who made a quick flip to shortstop Phillip Wilson covering second. Wilson rocketed the ball to first baseman Vogt for the triple play.

“That was a sweet deal,” Littleton said. “I’ve never seen one of those in my life. They made a heck of a play. My fielders were backing me up all day. That’s what got us through.”

At the plate for Stillwater, Phillip Wilson went 3-for-3 with three consecutive RBI singles. Joseph Lamerton went 2-for-3 and recorded a stolen base.

The Majors are back in action today against Three Rivers at 7:30 p.m.