Dale advances to force a rematch with Silo

YUKON— Jono Johnson desperately wanted to finish the game. Getting a championship game rematch with a rival was just more important.

Johnson believed that as Dale coach Eddie Jeffcoat walked toward the mound with the bases loaded in the seventh. The game was still out of reach for Fort Cobb-Broxton, but there was no way Jeffcoat would risk otherwise.

Jeffcoat turned to Ike Shirey, who in turn shut the door for a No. 3 Dale's 8-4 victory over No. 4 Fort Cobb- Broxton Friday afternoon in the Class A state semifinals at Yukon High School. Johnson's big performance was preserved and the Pirates have the rematch they coveted.

The Pirates (31-3) will face No. 1 Silo at 12:05 p.m. Saturday in Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. It's rematch of spring's Class 2A state title game, which Silo won for a third straight time over Dale. Silo is aiming for a fourth straight title, including both fall and spring.

“This is what we look forward to,” Johnson said. “It's what we work for all season to go out there and have a chance to win the state championship.”

But to get a rematch, Johnson first had to deliver after the Pirates jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first and continued to build from there with at least a run in all but two innings.

The big right-hander who i s committed t o Southern Nazarene pitched 6 1/3 innings. He allowed all four runs and struck out four.

“I pitched OK,” Johnson said. “I could have done better, but when you have a defense behind me like I have you got nothing to worry about.”

Silo 9, Latta 2

Silo took advantage of a sloppy first inning, and rolled to another championship game.

The Rebels scored seven runs in the opening frame as No. 11 Latta committed five errors. Latta also had a passed ball and a wild pitch in the inning.

That l ed to the rout and allowed right-hander Korben Ford to settle in and fire a complete game. Ford struck out five, walked three and allowed four hits. He allowed one earned run.

Oklahoma commitment Carson Atwood was 3 for 4, including a two-run double in the third.

[CHRIS LANDSBERGER/ THE OKLAHOMAN] Dale's Jono Johnson allowed four runs in 6 innings Friday in an 8-4 win against Fort Cobb-Broxton in a Class A state semifinal in Yukon.