PRYOR - Completing a remarkable turnaround from Wednesday’s tournament opener, the AA Travelers won the state championship with a 2-1 win over the host Tigers Sunday afternoon.
Logan Hunter scattered four hits and walked just two in seven innings as the AA Travelers won their sixth straight game following a first-round loss to Catoosa.
Mitchell Killgo’s leadoff home run in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie and the Travelers retired Pryor in order in the bottom of the seventh for their second state title in three years. Woodward has played in four straight AA championship games.
Killgo was named MVP of the tournament.
Pryor took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a hit batsman and two singles.
The Travelers got hits from Ross Royal in the first inning, Trevor Julian in second and Kevin Hajny in the third but couldn’t put a serious threat together.
Braden Hunt then blasted a one-out homer in the top of the sixth to the game at 1-1.
One inning later Killgo blasted the game-winner to right field.
Hunter, 8-3, had five strikeouts including the last out of the game.
Pitching, sometimes inconsistent during the season, was the key for the AA Travelers.
After the 11-1 loss on Wednesday, Woodward’s pitchers allowed just nine runs over the next six games and the AA Travelers got shutout efforts from Hajny and Hunt.
Woodward’s offense also picked up, especially in a four game stretch where the AA Travelers posted four consecutive run-rules.
The losses by Pryor were only that team’s third and fourth of the summer. Woodward is 42-27.
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Woodward’s AAA team fell short in its bid to reach the state tournament, losing 8-0 to host Edmond Santa Fe in the district finals Sunday.
The Travelers opened the tournament with a 15-3 win over Lone Grove, then lost 10-6 to Santa Fe. Woodward bounced back to beat the Enid Area AAA 10-1 behind the arm of Chance Beck, but couldn’t get anything going on Sunday. It was the Travelers first shutout loss of the season.
Woodward, 39-36, still has several game left. On Tuesday, the Travelers go to Putnam City West for games against the Edmond Travelers and Lawton starting at 3 p.m.
Then, Woodward will participate in the Sullivan Memorial Tournament named for Yukon standout Justin Sullivan who died in a traffic accident shortly after being named Oklahoma’s Player of the Year in 2002. The Oklahoma Ambassadors, an organization put together to honor Sullivan, is the host team for the special tourney, which will be played at various college fields in the metro area.
