Clark’s two home runs aids Jays in offensive win

If you were looking for a pitching dual in the final regular season baseball game between Guthrie and Ponca City let’s hope you kept your distance.

John Clark was 4-for-5 with two home runs and 6 RBIs in the win over Ponca City.

Both teams combined for 26 runs and 29 hits, but it was the BlueJays capturing their 23rd win of the year by a final score of 15-11, in Ponca City, Thursday afternoon. The Jays redeemed their season opening run-rule loss to the Wildcats (13-4).

Outfielder John Clark had a day to say the least by going 4-for-5 at the plate, including two home runs, and 6 RBIs. Clark’s two round tripper’s gives him seven on the season.

Fellow junior Landry Chappell started the parade of runs with his 3-run bomb in the first inning for his sixth of the season. Clark followed Chappell’s lead with a 2-run homer to give the Jays a 5-0 lead before the Poncan’s came to bat.

When the Poncan’s did come to bat they equaled the Jays by putting five runs on the board themselves as they connected for five base hits off of Jays starting pitcher Bryan Dutton.

Dutton had a more quiet second inning by facing just the minimum, although just one run in the first inning was earned.

In the third inning, the Jays regained the lead when Clark connected on his second homer. This time it was a 2-run blast that brought in Kye Sears, who reached via error. Clark now has three homer’s in his last two games.

Dutton started the fourth inning with a walk and was followed by Chappell’s single. Hayden Seifert then brought in Dutton with a double to increase the lead to 8-5. The score moved up to 9-5 when Clark’s ground out brought in J.T. McFadden, who was a courtesy runner for Chappell.

Guthrie (23-10) head coach Jon Chappell’s squad put another five-spot in the fifth inning by piecing together five singles, two error’s, and two base-on-balls. Scott Pickle, Seifert, Austin O’Connor, Clark, and Reed Roberts each collected RBIs in the frame.

The Jays entered the bottom of the fifth needing to hold the Wildcats to no more than a run to collect their 16th run rule of the season, but Ponca added five runs to move the game into the sixth inning.

Luke Davis started the sixth with a walk and later swapped second base and then advanced to third on a Wildcat error off of the bat of Pickle to put runners on the corners. Dutton then hit a ground ball that scored Davis to make it a 15-10 game.

Ponca City added a run in the seventh on three hits.

Roberts, who was one of four pitchers for the Jays, collected the win for his team high seventh to improve his record to 7-2.

Guthrie Bluejays at Ponca City Wildcats Box Score