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Lion Kaden Neill runs to third base. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat
After starting the week with an impressive doubleheader split against districtleading Coweta, the Durant Lions cruised to three more wins in four games at the Atoka Wood Bat Classic.
Coach J.W. Parsons’ club doubled its win total for the season with two more league contests this week before facing a trio of southeastern Oklahoma foes (Antlers, Rattan, Hugo) in the McAlester Shootout starting Thursday. The Lions were blitzed 11-0 in the opener against Coweta but forged a strong 8-3 win in the nightcap by erasing a 3-1 deficit with a massive six-run fifth inning.
Cole Robbins led off the decisive frame with a walk before two outs as things started innocently enough. Holdan Robinson followed with an RBI double to cut the margin in half. Reid Thompson and Ryder Jones were each hit by pitches to load the bases.
Jackson Williams then lined a single to center field that plated two and put Durant ahead to stay. Two batters later Aiden Diviney added plenty of insurance by belting a three-run triple.
That was plenty of support for Robbins, who got the start on the mound and went the distance with seven strong innings, yielding two earned runs on six hits while striking out nine and walking three.
Eli McClure led the Lions with three hits as Thompson and Williams notched two apiece.
Durant’s offense went stagnant in the Atoka tournament opener, falling to Class B power Roff, 4-1, as they managed just two hits.
The Lions bounced back, however, to reel off three consecutive victories on the way to the tournament consolation championship.
They began the comeback with a 12-0 throttling of Soper, finishing it on the run rule in just three innings.
Poole got the pitching start and twirled a no hitter against the Red Bears, striking out five and walking three.
Robbins, Eli McClure and Kegan Neill all posted two hits. Neill had a double and drove in a team-high three runs.
Jones, Diviney, Lucas Mc-Clure and Kolton Mason all had one hit.
Durant then posted a solid 5-1 triumph against Class B’s ninth-ranked Caney behind the one-two pitching tandem of Max Arington and Thompson.
Arington tossed three innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits with one strikeout and a walk. Thompson fired four shutout frames in which he yielded two hits and fanned five.
The Lions pushed across two runs in the second, one in the third and two in the seventh while making the most of four hits. Poore tallied a double as Diviney, Neill and Stephen Manhard also notched a single apiece.
A 9-4 win over Hugo finished off the Lion three-game run as the Durant offense erupted for three runs in the opening stanza as well as four more in the second inning.
Durant took advantage of Hugo miscues and free passes with the only first inning hit coming via a Diviney single. Jared Avalos and Diviney had the lone hits in the second inning uprising as well.
Lucas McClure and Diviney combined for the pitching triumph. McClure twirled three stanzas, yielding one earned run on two hits and struck out six while Diviney fanned five and allowed one unearned run on one hit in his four frames.
Avalos and Diviney tallied two singles apiece with Robbins adding another along with two RBI.