Briley survives, Wright City upends Dale
MUSTANG — Wright City ace Robert Briley had already pitched himself out of three jams.
He did not want to have to do it again.
Briley led off the bottom of the seventh inning reaching third base and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly as Wright City defeated Dale 4-3 in Thursday’s Class A state baseball quarterfinal.
The senior pitcher earned a complete game victory, a stressful one that started with two runs allowed on wild pitches in the first inning and ended with Dale stranding the goahead run with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh.
“He’s been our horse all year,” Wright City coach
Kyle Butler said. “He’s been tested along the way. There wasn’t a guy in that lineup that we could take off. I’m super proud of him for hanging in there, not getting shook and making the pitches he needed to make.”
Briley, Wright City’s leadoff hitter, was 0-3 entering his at bat in the seventh inning, but he hit the ball in the right-field gap and reached third after a Dale outfielder bobbled the ball. Wright City shortstop Conner
Bastarache drove him in in the next at bat with a high fly ball to right field.
Dale starter Blake McQuain also pitched a complete game in the loss. Only one of his four allowed runs were earned.
Briley walked three and threw two wild pitches in the first inning, which allowed Dale to take an early 2-0 lead. Butler said Briley often struggles to get loose early, which was reflected with his firstinning control issues.
But Wright City’s starter quickly settled and allowed only two base runners in the next four innings, one who he picked off at second base.
After scoring one run in the bottom of the first, Wright City took a 3-2 lead in the third inning. Brady
Evans drove in Dalyn Burrell on a fielder’s choice, and
CJ Briley hit an RBI single in the next at bat.
Dale scored tied the game in the sixth inning with Cooper Hunt’s RBI double and was looking to take the lead with two runners on and one out. But Robert Briley struck out the side to end the inning. He then pitched out of a based-loaded jam in the top of the seventh.
“I was getting frustrated a bit because I couldn’t find the strike zone,” Robert Briley said. “I just had to slow it down and take a deep breath. It was unbelievable.”
Oktaha 9, Tushka 0
Zach Irvin pitched a two-hit shutout as Oktaha cruised to a 9-0 victory vs. Tushka in Friday’s first Class A baseball quarterfinal.
Brayden Rodden hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and Oktaha added two runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings.
Cole Broughton had both of Tushka’s hits.