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Zack Zukowski at the plate -
Carter Owens stands at 2nd -
Caleb Cornell throws a pitch -
Ethan Rivera awaits the pitch from 2nd
A swing and a miss spoiled the comeback story.
The Oklahoma Christian Academy baseball team fell Monday afternoon in its regular season finale at Dobson Field 7-6 to Fletcher despite a spirited comeback effort.
OCA (5-16) trailed 5-0 but scored 6 runs in the sixth to take the lead.
Fletcher (16-9) responded with 2 runs in the seventh to retake the lead before shutting down the Eagles in the bottom of the inning to hang on to the win.
OCA coach Jason Corley said outside of one inning, the Eagles did not approach the plate with enough aggression.
“Obviously, in the sixth inning, we got aggressive at the plate,” Corley said. “But that was really the difference in the ball game. When you look at the first five innings and the last inning, we’re watching too many pitches. We’ve gotta be more aggressive. We’ve gotta attack, especially that first pitch, their best pitch.”
OCA used a different pitcher each inning to keep everyone fresh for the start of the playoffs later in the week. OCA’s only senior, Zack Zukowski, started the game with a clean first inning in which he retired the Wildcats in order. The Eagles recognized him after the half-inning.
Zukowski also played a big role at the plate. After sophomore Carter Owens began the sixth with a walk, Zukowski hit an RBI double to the wall down the third-base line. His RBI gave OCA its first run and started the rally.
Zukowski finished the day hitting 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Corley said Zukowski played outstanding.
“I’m not shocked by it, because I know the hard work he’s put in,” Corley said. “I know the extra time he puts in away from our regular practices and games. So, I’m not shocked by what he did, but it was pretty awesome to see him, on our last home stand, to kinda come in and do that and then get our rally started in the sixth. I was proud of him.”
OCA leadoff hitter Jacob McWatters, a sophomore, hit 1-4 with 2 RBIs. Sophomore Antone Prince came off the bench and batted in the game-tying run with a triple, while junior Madison Chandler hit in the go-ahead run. Junior Ethan Rivera also recorded an RBI.
The game remained tied at 0 until the fourth inning. Fletcher, who came into the inning without a hit, scored three runs to get on the board first. The Wildcats padded their lead with two in the fifth.
OCA outhit Fletcher 10-5 but stranded nine runners, including two in the first and three in the fourth.