The good news for the Roland Rangers baseball team was it got to play its first-ever game on its newly-laid turf on its home field Thursday afternoon against the Pocola Indians.
The not-so-good news for the Rangers was they not only lost that game, but their two District 3A-8 road games against Beggs on April 22.
The host Golden Demons won both games of the district doubleheader against the Rangers on April 22, as Beggs took the opener 5-3 and the nightcap 7-0.
On the first game played on the new turf, the Rangers lost 8-3 to the Indians.
In the opener against Beggs, the Golden Demons, who fell behind 2-0 in the second inning, scored three runs in the second inning and twice in the third inning for a 5-2 lead. The Rangers scored once in the fifth inning to make it 5-3 but got no closer.
In defeat, Colton Peters was 2-for-3 with a double, while Alex Brant, Raesean Perryman and Rickey Watts all singled for the Rangers (3-18 overall, 1-11 in district play).
Brant (1-2) suffered the loss, despite fanning eight batters in six innings and throwing a four-hitter.
In the nightcap against Beggs, Beggs’ pitching duo of Jerrett Hammer and Jaxon Remington combined to four-hit the Rangers.
The Golden Demons scored once in the first inning, three runs in the third inning, twice in the fourth inning and once in the seventh inning.
In defeat, Peters doubled, while Brant, Perryman and Avery Moya all singled for Roland.
Peters (1-4) took the loss, despite recording eight strikeouts in four innings. Moya went the final three innings with two strikeouts.
In the loss to Pocola on the first game played on the new turf, after the Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Indians scored five runs in the second inning for a 5-1 lead. Pocola added a run in the fifth inning and two more in the seventh inning to up its advantage to 8-1.
The Rangers scored twice in their half of the seventh inning, but their rally came up short.
In defeat, Moya was 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Brant was 2-for-2 with two runs batted in for Roland.
Hunter Burris (1-4) took the loss, going the first 6.2 innings with four strikeouts. Moya got the final out.
The Rangers found out Monday from the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association where they will play this week’s Class 3A Regional Tournament.
The Rangers were sent to Valliant where they will meet the host Bulldogs at 11 a.m. Thursday, with the winner meeting the Sequoyah-Tahlequah/Sequoyah-Claremore winner at 4 p.m. Thursday, with the winner playing for the regional title at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
The Roland-Valiant loser will meet the Sequoyah- Tahlequah/Sequoyah- Claremore loser in an elimination game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The loser’s-bracket final will be at 4:30 p.m. Friday between the 4 p.m. Thursday loser and the 6:30 p.m. Thursday winner, with the winner playing in the regional championship game at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The ifgame is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday.
