Pope provides game-winning hit for Squirrels at regional

The 13th time proved to be the right time for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels Senior Babe Ruth baseball team with runners in scoring position against Riverton, Kansas, on Saturday at the Midwest Plains Regional in Lyons, Kansas.

Adam Pope collected a walk-off double to plate Hunter Cook from second base with nobody out in the bottom of the 10th inning to seal a 3-2 victory for the Fighting Squirrels against Riverton.

Cook moved into scoring position after reaching base with a leadoff single and advancing to second base on a wild pitch. The Fighting Squirrels were 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position before Pope finally delivered to end the playoff classic.

"Lucky 13 brother," Fighting Squirrels coach Michael Minner said after the extra-inning win. "They say it's not lucky, but if it wasn't lucky, I wouldn't wear it. Pope came through in the clutch. Today is the one time out of 100 I'm not bunting in that situation. I was playing for a double because we just weren't getting it done. Luckily, we got the double and got out of here with a victory."

Pope, a recent Notre Dame Regional High School graduate, also earned the victory on the mound. He entered the game in the top of the sixth inning and allowed just two hits in five innings of scoreless relief work.

The Fighting Squirrels took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Wyatt Pratt and Tim Fox drew consecutive two-out walks and Colton Averett followed with a two-out RBI single.

Charleston padded its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Cameron Clark drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored when Blake Wolferding hit a ball to the outfield that was dropped.

"We got that first run, and then they muffed a play and the second run was critical for us to stay in the game," Minner said. "We weren't very good offensively today, and a lot of that had to do with their pitching. We were just good enough to win, which is a tribute to our kids."

The Squirrels lost their lead after Riverton's first three hitters reached base in the top of the sixth inning. No. 9 hitter L.J. MaDonna collected a leadoff single, Dylan Ward followed by reaching base on an infield error and No. 2 hitter Kyler Cook added a ground-rule double to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Charleston elected to lift starting pitcher Bruce Simmons after Cook's hit and bring in Pope with runners at second and third with nobody out. Pope got the first hitter he faced, Dalton Weaver, to ground out to first base before cleanup hitter Gavin Forbes followed with an RBI single. Riverton stranded runners at first and third when Pope got No. 5 hitter Tevin Berry to pop out and No. 6 hitter Craig Karnes to fly out to end the inning.

Weaver pitched the first seven innings for Riverton. He allowed two runs on one hit, struck out seven and walked seven.

Cook relieved Weaver at the start of the bottom of the eighth inning. Clark and Wolferding had consecutive singles and Hunter Cook followed with a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Weaver got Pope to ground into a 4-2 fielder's choice for the first out, got Pratt to fly out to shallow center and struck out Fox looking to escape the jam.

Charleston loaded the bases again in the bottom of the ninth inning after Averett reached on an infield error with nobody out, Austin Aldridge drew a one-out walk and Clark reached on an infield error with two outs. Cook escaped the jam when he got Wolferding to fly out to the warning track.

Cook pitched the final three innings and was the pitcher of record for Riverton.

Simmons allowed two runs, three hits, struck out four and walked one in five plus innings of work.

"I thought Pope was great in relief and Bruce Simmons had a phenomenal start," Minner said. "It was probably the best start of his career for me."

Eight teams are competing at the four-day regional tournament.

The Squirrels; Bismarck, North Dakota; Riverton, Kansas; and Border, Colorado; are competing in the American League Pool.

Missouri state champion Wayne County Lumberjacks; Okaloosa, Iowa; Hopkins, Minnesota; and host Lyons are competing in the National League Pool.

The teams finishing first and second in each pool advance to a four-team winner-take-all bracket. The winner of bracket play advances to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series. The World Series is August 8 to 15 in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Bismarck beat Border 9-6 in 10 inning in the other American League Pool game Saturday.

The Squirrels are 2-0, Border is 1-1, Bismarck is 1-1 and Riverton is 0-2 in the American League Pool entering today's action.

The Squirrels play Border at noon today, and Bismarck plays Riverton at 5 p.m. to wrap up pool play.

If the Fighting Squirrels, Border and Bismarck all finish 2-1 the tiebreaker to determine which two teams qualify for bracket play is fewest runs allowed. Entering play today, the Fighting Squirrels have allowed six runs, Border has allowed 14 runs and Bismarck has allowed 16 runs.

"Our fate is in our own hands," Minner said. "We are going to go out and try to win the game Sunday. We don't want to have to wait and see what happens with the other teams. But we have also put ourselves in a pretty good position with not allowing a ton of runs if there is a three-way tie. We are in pretty good shape we feel like, but we want to go in and win our way to bracket play."

Riverton 000 002 000 0 -- 2 5 3

Charleston 000 110 000 1 -- 3 5 1

WP -- Adam Pope. LP -- Kyler Cook. 2B -- Cook (RV), Pope (CH).