Ben Whitehead
EMPIRE — Inclement weather and other scheduling issues forced the Ryan Cowboys to wait until Friday afternoon to open their baseball season at Empire. Ryan coach Stan Mueggenborg said he was unsure of how his team would play, but the Cowboys looked like a seasoned ball club.
Zac Weist hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Ryan scored seven runs in the fourth en route to a 13-4, five inning victory over Empire. Weist went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, falling a triple shy of the cycle and Denver Overstreet pitched a complete game to pick up the win.
Dalton Hawkins led the game off with a bloop single to center field to set up Weist’s long ball over the left field fence. Empire starter Clint Parks settled down and struck out two batters in the inning and two more in the second.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the second. Parks walked and stole second. After a strike out, Jake Williams walked and Jake Dewey advanced both runners with a swinging bunt back to the pitcher. Walker Hines was hit in the foot to load the bases and Koby Williams walked to bring home Parks.
Tyler Smith sparked the offense with a double to center to score both Williams and Hines to give Empire a 3-2 lead.
“I can see us getting better every day,” Empire coach Jeff Pierce said. “We’re still learning things about the game. I challenged the guys to learn something every day and in turn, that will make us better.”
Ryan tied the game in the third. Weist led off with an infield single to third and advanced to second on a passed ball. Three batters later, Taylor Johnson singled to right field to score Weist.
The Cowboys got to Parks in the fourth with a seven run inning. Parks left the inning with one out but gave up three runs in the inning. Dewey came on in relief and struggled to get the Cowboys out as well. Ryan used two doubles, two singles, two walks and one Empire error to score the seven runs and take a commanding 10-3 lead.
“We hit the ball decent and also had some dribblers,” said Mueggenborg. “Denver pitched pretty good for us and we did some things that we needed to for the win.”
Empire added a run in the fourth when Smith hit his second double of the game down the left field line to score Dewey who had walked earlier in the inning. Smith finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Bulldogs.
Parks struck out six batters and walked two in his 3.1 innings of work. Dewey gave up seven runs (three earned) in 1.2 innings and struck out two batters.
— Ben Whitehead is a sports writer for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 255-5354, Ext. 165, or via e-mail at ben.whitehead@duncanbanner.com.
