Cougars push No. 4 Sallisaw to winner-take-all 4A Area game

The Ada High School baseball team pushed No. 4 Sallisaw to an if-necessary third game in its best-of-three Area Tournament series.

However, the host Black Diamonds won the rubber match 12-2 to claim the area championship.

No. 13 Ada won the opener 4-1 before Sallisaw edged the Cougars 3-1 in Game 2.

Sallisaw advanced to the Class 4A State Tournament at 30-2, while Shane Coker’s club ended its season at 21-15.

Game 3

Sallisaw 12, Ada 2

Ada scored twice in the top of the fourth inning.

Braden McGilbray and Brock Boyles drew back-to-back walks to start the inning, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch.

McGilbray scored when Kyler Gaddis grounded out to second base, and Eli Justus followed with an RBI double to cut the Sallisaw lead in half at 4-2.

However, the Black Diamonds put the game away with an eight-run burst in the bottom of the fourth.

Justus and Reece Klaus both finished 2-for-2 and accounted for all four of Ada’s hits.

Easton Wolfe paced an 11-hit Sallisaw offense, going 3-for-3 with a triple, a double, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Carson Sharp finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and his grand slam in the fourth inning gave the Black Diamonds a 10-run cushion.

Game 2

Sallisaw 3, Ada 1

Ada struck first in the bottom of the sixth inning to break up a scoreless game.

The Cougars strung together three consecutive hits to start the inning — a leadoff double by Reece Klaus, a bunt single by Rhett Klaus and an RBI single up the middle by Brayden McGilbray.

Leading 1-0, Ada was just two outs away from securing the Class 4A Area championship, but Sallisaw rallied in the top of the seventh.

The Black Diamonds used run-scoring doubles from Kase Adams, Carson Sharp and Johnny Velasquez — the bottom three batters in the lineup — to score three times and steal the victory.

Ada finished with five hits from five different players, including a double by Kyler Gaddis and a single by Blake Cook.

The game featured a dandy pitcher’s duel between Ada’s Brock Boyles and Sallisaw’s Rylan Eagle.

Boyles (8-3) struck out five, walked two and allowed three earned runs in a complete-game effort. Eagle also went the distance, striking out four and walking one while allowing just one run across seven innings.

Game 1

Ada 4, Sallisaw 1

Ada pitcher Chalin Robertson (8-3) kept the Sallisaw offense in check during an impressive complete-game performance. He struck out five, walked one and allowed just one earned run across seven innings.

Brock Boyles broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning to put Ada in front 3-1. It was his third home run of the spring.