BASEBALL: Inola sweeps through 4A Regional 14, punches ticket to area tournament

Behind dominant pitching, explosive offense and mistake-free defense, Inola baseball left no doubt.

Over three days and three statement wins, the Longhorns stormed through the Class 4A Regional 14 tournament, capped by a 6-0 shutout of Stigler in Sunday’s championship at home.

Inola (22-8) now advances to the area tournament, where two more wins would send the Longhorns to the state tournament for the first time in school history.

Championship: Inola 6, Stigler 0

With Stigler threatening early, Rowdie Rock silenced the Panthers’ bats — and their hopes — with a complete-game masterpiece Sunday.

Rock struck out nine and scattered just three hits over seven shutout innings, helping the Longhorns cruise to the regional crown.

Inola wasted no time on offense.

Brett Cornett’s RBI single in the bottom of the first opened the scoring, and Rock followed with a towering triple to right that drove in two more before he scored on a misplayed throw, making it 3-0.

The Longhorns tacked on a run in the fourth when Connor Pratt reached on an error to score Wyatt Atwell, then sealed it in the fifth. Eli Berg laced a single to center that plated both Rock and Cornett, pushing the lead to 6-0.

Rock’s performance on the mound was matched by stellar defense, including two double plays and zero errors. Cornett, Rock and Pratt each recorded two hits, while Berg led the team with two RBIs.

Semifinals: Inola 12, Stigler 1

Pratt went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in two runs, igniting a relentless offensive assault as Inola smacked the Panthers with a run-rule victory in five innings Saturday.

Rock started the scoring with an RBI single in the first, followed by a two-run single from Charlie Castleman. A walk and an error in the second brought home three more for a 6-0 lead.

After Stigler scored once in the top of the third, the Longhorns answered right back. Pratt’s RBI single and a two-run hit from Cornett made it 9-1. Bo Stubbs delivered the knockout punch with a two-run double in the fourth, and Pratt capped the scoring with another RBI single.

Brock Flanagan allowed just one run on six hits in a complete-game effort, while five different Longhorns drove in multiple runs.

First Round: Inola 14, Eufaula 3

Rock launched a two-run home run in the sixth inning and finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, powering Inola past Eufaula in the opening round Friday.

The Longhorns exploded for five runs in the first inning on a flurry of walks and timely hits, including Stubbs’ RBI single and Micah Schwing’s fielder’s choice. Castleman’s RBI double in the second made it 6-3, and Pratt’s sacrifice fly helped build an 8-3 cushion by the third.

The sixth inning turned into a highlight reel: Rock’s homer, Castleman’s triple and Flanagan’s bunt brought in four more runs. Rock and Berg each added RBI hits in the seventh to cap the 14-3 rout.

Castleman got the win, striking out five and allowing just one earned run over seven strong innings.