The 2024 baseball season came to a close for the Muldrow Bulldogs as they lost 12-2 in four innings to their county rivals, the Sallisaw Black Diamonds, in the Class 4A Regional Tournament finals on a windy and chilly Thursday night in Sallisaw.
The Bulldogs reached the regional title game with a 10-5 victory over the Glenpool Warriors in the loser’s-bracket final.
The ’Dogs, who end the season at 16-10, split their first two games in the regional, losing 7-4 to Glenpool but routing Catoosa 13-3 in six innings to send the Indians home for the season.
In the regional final, the ’Dogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a two-out rally caused by a Sallisaw error allowed Seminole State College signee Reid Sutton and Colton Pulliam to score, but that was all they could muster as they only had one hit — a one-out single by Gabe Miller in the third inning.
After Muldrow’s tworun first inning, Sallisaw starting pitcher Kase Adams struck out six batters, seven all total for the game, and only allowed two baserunners over the final three innings to finish the complete- game victory.
Hayden McKinster (1-2) took the seasonending loss for Muldrow, getting two strikeouts in three-plus innings.
In the win over Glenpool, the Bulldogs, down 3-0, got right back into the game on one swing of the bat. Will Stratmann’s one-out, two-run home run in the fourth inning cut Muldrow’s deficit to 3-2.
After Glenpool upped its advantage to 4-2 in the fifth inning, the ’Dogs woke up and scored six runs as 12 batters came to the plate. The inning was highlighted by an RBI double by Sutton and an RBI single by Pulliam as the other four runs scored on one Glenpool error, a passed ball and a wild pitch. When the inning ended, Muldrow was up for good at 8-4.
Muldrow scored two insurance runs in the sixth inning on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Jonah Claborn to make it 10-4.
For the game, Pulliam was 2-for-3 with a run batted in and three runs scored, Claborn was 2-for-3 with an RBI, Stratmann hit a two-run homer and scored three runs, Miller doubled and scored once and Sutton doubled with an RBI and a run scored for Muldrow.
Sutton (5-3) got the win, going 6.2 innings with five strikeouts. McKinster came in and got the final out to send Muldrow into the regional final. In the loss to Glenpool, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI groundout by Stratmann, an RBI single by Claborn and an error.
However, the Warriors scored four runs in the third inning to take a 4-3 lead, but the ’Dogs tied the game at 4-all on Sutton’s RBI double in the fifth inning, scoring Miller.
However, Glenpool scored three runs in the sixth inning to break the 4-all tie.
In defeat, Sutton had an RBI double, Claborn had an RBI single and Jacob Gregory singled and scored for Muldrow.
Claborn (4-4) took the loss in relief, going the final 4.2 innings with four strikeouts. Drew Prewett got the start and went 2.1 innings with three Ks.
In the win over Catoosa, the ’Dogs scored twice in the second and third innings to break the scoreless deadlock for a 4-0 lead.
After the Indians scored three runs in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 4-3, the Bulldogs scored five runs in the fourth inning and two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to put the game into runrule status.
For the game, Sutton was 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a two-run home run and six runs batted in, Miller was 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI, Claborn was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Gregory was 2-for-4 with a dou-ble and two runs scored, Wyatt Prewett was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Pulliam doubled and scored twice for Muldrow.
Pulliam (6-0) got the win, going the first 4.1 innings with four strikeouts. Claborn went the final 1.2 innings with three Ks. The duo combined on a five-hitter.
The games were the last for Muldrow coach Zane Rose, who has accepted a job with Gore Public Schools, pending its board of education’s approval at its May 6 meeting.
