Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians show progress throughout first weekend
Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians shortstop Kael Siemers turns a double play with the help of second baseman Bryce Luelf against Dallas-Fort Worth on Saturday at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium. The Indians had a rough start against college-experienced teams, going 0-4 early in the season. They play a double header tonight at 5:45 p.m. at home.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
June 1, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
(Note: KWON Radio said it plans to provide live coverage of all Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians games. KWON can be found at 1400-AM and 93.3-FM on the radio dial. The station also provides TV coverage on its website.)
No one could accuse Doenges Toyota Indians’ baseball manager John Pannell for feather-bedding the opening of the summer season.
During the first four games, the Indians (0-4) faced a couple of daunting college-experienced foes in the Kansas Curve and Dallas-Fort Worth Ravages.
Despite a plentiful strain of younger and non-college players, the Indians still displayed stretches of strong play and a clear pattern of progress.
Next up, the Indians play host at 5:45 p.m. today to the D-Bats. In midweek, the Indians travel to Branson, Mo., for their first tournament of the season.
Following are more details on this weekend’s games:
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KANSAS CURVE 7, BARTLESVILLE TOYOTA INDIANS 0
Bartlesville waged a fierce battle, trailing by only two runs, 2-0, after four complete innings in their home opener at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
The Curve finished up with a wave of runs the final three innings.
Liam Buchanan belted two hits to lead Bartlesville’s improved offensive attack.
Pannell called on Grant Clark as starting pitcher. He worked four innings prior to the Indians finishing up with multiple pitchers including Eli Winters and Lathe Griggs.
The score might have been more lopsided if not for the clutch defensive play of Bryce Luelf. He killed a rally in the top of the sixth.
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Bartlesville Doenges Toyota’s Lathe Griggs pitches to a Dallas-Fort Worth batter on Saturday at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium. The Indians had a rough start against college-experienced teams, going 0-4 early in the season. They play a double header tonight at 5:45 p.m. at home.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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DALLAS-FORT WORTH 12, BARTLESVILLE TOYOTA INDIANS 3
The teams collided on Saturday morning in the first game of a doubleheader at Doenges Stadium.
The final score didn’t reflect the valiant effort put up by the Indians.
Through three innings the Texas team led, 5-0 — but only one of those runs was earned off of Bartlesville’s starting pitcher Hunter Shea.
In the top of the fourth the Indians made a pitching change and Dallas greeted the new hurler very rudely with a double and a triple.
Dallas had boosted its lead to 7-0 coming out of the top of fourth.
But the Indian offense found a way in the bottom of the fourth to produce some runs — highlighted by Kael Siemers’ RBI single.
The rally began with Jaxon Zaun and Eddie Rice drawing back-to-back walks. The third batter hit into a doubleplay to detour the comeback — but not derail it.
With Zaun standing at third and Owen Dum at the plate, a pitch got behind the catcher and Zaun dashed home to break up the shutout.
Dum then drew a base on balls as did Zane Stricklin. That set the stage for Siemers’ sizzler to center to bring Dum home and make it a 7-2 game.
Moments later, Stricklin stampeded home on a wild pitch, followed by a walk to Buchanan.
But Dallas then changed its pitcher and the next batter hit into a fielder’s choice.
Dallas answered with five runs in the top of the fifth.
The Indian side went down one-two-three in the bottom of the fifth to wrap-up the run-rule loss.
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DALLAS-FORT WORTH 12, BARTLESVILLE TOYOTA INDIANS 6
Bartlesville stormed back from a 7-0 deficit to nearly turn the tide.
It started off roughly for the Indians as a true freshman pitcher from Caney Valley (Kan.) High saw his first action on this level.
Dallas ran up a 5-0 lead by the end of the first inning. It might have been more if not for the gritty relief pitching of Zaun.
The Texas squad stretched its lead to 7-0 in the top of the second.
But — in what might be called one of the defining moments of the Indians’ summer — the squad put together a true two-out rally in the bottom of the second.
It started out with Clark and Rice both reaching base, the latter with a single.
With Stricklin at the plate, Grant stole third and then scored on a wild pitch to put the Indians on the board.
Zaun retired the side in the top of the third, thanks mainly to an unassisted double play by Luelf.
Bartlesville’s offense found a way to add another run in the bottom of the third with Brenden Asher bringing home Siemers on a ground-out, trimming the Texas lead to five runs, 7-2.
However, Dallas answered with two runs in the top of the fourth to go ahead, 9-2.
That set up the Indians’ big inning.
It began with consecutive walks earned by Buchanan, Siemers and Asher.
With one out, Sam Marcella stroked a single to drive home Buchanan and Siemers and send Asher to third.
A wild pitch against Grant opened the door for Asher to score. Clark reached base and also came home to narrow the Texas lead to 9-6.
But Dallas added two runs in the top of the sixth and another in the top of the seventh.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Indians loaded the bases but failed to cash in.
Rice ripped a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but Bartlesville was unable to build on it.