CONWAY -- Mason Mayfield gave up nine hits in his first two innings on the mound Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the American Legion Mid-South Regional Tournament at Warrior Field at Hendrix University.
Oklahoma;330;000;000 - 6;12;2
Louisiana;000;002;05x - 7; 9;4
White, Box (8) and Wright. Mayfield and Forshag. W - Mayfield. L - Box. HR - Louisiana: Dan Edmund.
The Oklahoma Shockers sent nine men to the plate in both the first and second innings, staking themselves to a six-run lead, but somehow, the Retif Oil ace managed to convince his coaches that he should remain in the game.
The decision to leave him in paid off for the Louisiana state champions.
Mayfield held the Shockers to three hits in his final seven innings and Retif Oil rallied for a 7-6 victory.
"We made a couple of errors behind Mason," Retif Oil Manager Joe Latino said. "Oklahoma was hitting the ball hard, but they were plays we should have made. Mason found his rhythm and got all four of his pitches working."
Retif Oil committed three errors in the first two innings after having made only two in its first four regional games.
"Those first two innings were bad," Mayfield said. "I just kept making mistake after mistake after mistake. And they capitalized on every single one of them."
"After that second inning, he told me 'Coach, don't take me out,' " Latino said. " 'Leave me in, if nothing else to save our pitching for the second game.' "
"That just speaks to his character and his unselfishness. He wanted to finish it."
As it turned out, the team from New Orleans did not need the second game.
Retif Oil advances to the American Legion World Series, which begins Thursday in Shelby, N.C.
Retif Oil (31-6) scored five runs in the eighth inning to complete the comeback.
With runners at first and second and two outs, Ben Hess singled and Daste Harrison scored from second. As Blake Clanton's throw from centerfield hit the back of the mound and bounced to the backstop, Nick Ray also scored, giving Retif Oil its first lead of the game.
Oklahoma starter Tucker White held Retif Oil scoreless on three hits for the first five innings. First baseman Dan Edmund broke the shutout with a two-run home run with one out in the sixth inning.
"It couldn't have happened to a better kid," Latino said. "Daniel Edmund has been a leader for us all year. He put a charge into it and it got us enthused a little bit. Once we started to chip away at the lead, we grabbed the momentum."
Retif Oil's eighth inning started with a walk to Scott Crabtree and a double by Edmund. Hayden Fuentes, the winning pitcher in Saturday's 11-6 come-from-behind victory over Bryant, cut Oklahoma's advantage to 6-4 with a two-run single.
A fielder's choice hit by Ray against reliever Braden Box allowed Louisiana to pull within 6-5.
Box struck out Brandon Briuglio for the second out, but Hess connected on a one-strike offering that scored the tying run and eventually led to Ray scoring on the error.
White, who had singles in his first three at-bats, drove in a run on both the first and second innings. Sawyer Tool and Jerrell Phillips also had run-scoring singles as Oklahoma built its 6-0 lead.
After the second inning, Oklahoma had only one more baserunner to advance past second base.
"I haven't had a game like that all this year," Mayfield said. "I just found a groove and went with it."
Sports on 08/10/2015