WARR ACRES — Putnam City West scored five runs over the final two innings of a 5-4 win over rival Putnam City Tuesday (March 3).

“It was a great night of baseball,” Putnam City West coach Grason Wright said via text. “I’m proud of the way my kids handled adversity and battled back to win the game against our sister school. That was a great overall game for both ball clubs.”

The game was moved from West to PC’s turf field as rain moved through the metro area.

SCHOOL	PC DISTRICT RECORD
Putnam City West	1-0
Putnam City North	0-0
Putnam City	0-1

Over the first four innings, Pirate senior Justin Knight held West’s offense to a pair of singles and three walks

Wright said Knight had “a very good arm, locating his off speed (pitches) for strikes and kept us off balance the first few innings.”

West finally broke through in the fifth inning with Putnam City holding a 3-0 lead. Junior Aaron De Loera tripled to right field with one out. Knight hit Patriot senior Ezequiel Hernandez with a pitch and walked junior Jarin Hoff to load the bases.

Pirate junior Easton Garcia relieved Knight and De Loera scored on a wild pitch. Hernandez followed that by stealing home to make it 3-2.

West junior Daniel Hoyt walked. Sophomore Malachi Ferguson singled to left field, scoring Hoff to tie the game at 3. Original turned a double play to end the scoring threat.

In the sixth inning, West took the lead. Freshman Riley Axtell walked and sophomore Cadence Smith singled to right.

The duo executed a double steal and De Loera singled Axtell home.

Smith stole home to make it 5-3 before another double play ended the inning.

The Pirates rallied for a run in the top of the seventh inning on a one-out, RBI-double from sophomore MJ Petties to make it 5-4. Petties was stranded a second after Smith struck out the next two batters for the win.

The Pirates got two runs in the third inning to take the lead first. The third-inning rally was keyed by an RBI-triple to right field by Knight which scored Petties (who had singled). Pirate freshman Dylan Grigsby ran for Knight and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

The Pirates added a run in the fifth. Two walks chased Hoff from the game. Petties and Knight executed a double steal and Petties scored on an error for the 3-0 lead.

While the West offense rallied for the win, Wright praised his defense for keeping the Patriots in the game.

Senior Kasen Jones threw out Petties at trying to score in the first inning after a double. Later, second baseman Axtell got a runner at first by himself on a “do-or-die” play.

“Our defense played solid all night,” Wright said.

Hoff threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and three runs (two of which were earned). He took a no-decision after walking five batters and striking out four.

Smith earned the win in relief after striking out six batters over the final 2 2/3 innings. Smith allowed a run and a hit. He walked one batter.

De Loera finished 4-for-4 with four stolen bases and a run batted in. Wright called that performance a “breakout game” for De Loera.

The Patriots stole 16 stolen bases in the win. Hernandez swiped three bags. Smith, Hoyt, Hoff and Ferguson each had two steals.

PIRATES MAKING PROGRESS DESPITE LOSS

Putnam City coach Joseph Wood likes what he see, despite the 0-2 start.

“We played really hard and have grown as young men and players since last year,” Wood said via text. “We competed until the very end. Shout out to West for doing what needed to be done to get the win.”

Knight struck out nine batters in 4 1/3 innings of work. He allowed three runs, three hits and walked four.

Garcia took the loss.

Petties had a 3-for-3 performance with four stolen bases. Knight and PC senior Henry Thein each had a hit. Knight stole three bases in the loss.

UP NEXT

Putnam City West (2-0) hosts 5A Midwest City (2-0) Thursday (March 5) at 4:30 p.m.

The Bombers earned a 10-1 rout of El Reno on Tuesday.

Putnam City (0-2) hosts A1 Southwest Covenant Thursday at 5 p.m.

The Yukon private school, whose mascot is also the Patriots, are off to a 3-0 start. They downed Destiny Christian 6-5 on Tuesday.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Putnam City (0-2)	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	4	5	0
Putnam City West (2-0)	0	0	0	0	3	2	X	5	6	1