BARTLESVILLE DOENGES TOYOTA INDIANS DEFEAT WOOD MEADOWS; FALL TO TULSA SANDLOT
Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians pitcher Braelin Pippin awaits a pop fly during their game vs Tulsa Sandlot. The Indians dropped a heart breaker, 8-7 in the seventh inning during the DBAT tournament.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
July 14, 2025
By Mike Tupa
Not too long ago the Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians’ season seemed to be plunging into mediocrity.
At that point, their record stood at 11-20 following a four-game losing streak. Twenty wins seemed to be a fading dream. A winning season seemed out of reach.
That was then.
That was BTHT — Before the Huge Turnaround.
Starting in late June, the Indians surged to nine wins in 10 games.
In what seemed a meteoric spurt, they reached 20 wins and came within one game of .500. They registered that 20th win last week against Woody Meadows Bat Company.
Unfortunately, however, on Tuesday they fell in a thriller to the Tulsa Lookout, 8-7, on a walk-off wild pitch. The loss took their record to 20-22.
Following are summaries of this week’s games.
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BARTLESVILLE INDIANS 4, WOODY MEADOWS BAT COMPANY 2
For the second-straight game the Indians clinched a close win within a climatic cliff-hanger involving Grant Clark.
With the Indians clinging to a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth on Monday, Woody Bat had a runner on second.
Relief pitcher Kael Siemers — who also had been the mound savior on Sunday — used his head as well as his arm to help squash Woody Meadow’s rally.
It started when a Woody Meadow hit a screaming liner up the middle.
The ball “ticked off Kael’s glove and forehead,” recalled Indians’ head coach John Pannell.
Meanwhile Clark — who was playing at short — propelled himself toward the ricocheting ball.
“Grant came in … and bare hands the ball and throws out the guy at first by a half step for the final out,” Pannell added.
The win elevated the Indians to a 20-win record for the second-straight summer. They’re hoping for a lot more victories before this season writes its final chapter.
Siemers already is a big part of this season’s story — as well as Clark.
On July 6, Pannell called on Siemers to relieve in a dire situation that seemed so scary one expected Darth Vader to tromp on the field, the evil sound of his monstrous breath rasping through the night air at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
The bases were loaded by the Bryant (Ark.) Black Sox. There were no outs. It was the bottom of the final inning of regulation. The Indians sweated it out with a 3-2 lead that seemed mighty puny.
At stake was the championship of the 66th Annual Glen Winget Memorial Stadium.
Let’s cut through further set-up.
Siemers got it done. He enticed a batter to hit a grounder toward first base. Clark — who was the first-sacker — picked up the ball and fired home to force out the runner trying to score from third. Meanwhile, Clark kept going back to the bag for the return throw from catcher Bryce Luelf to complete the 3-2-3 double play.
But Bryant still had the potential winning run in scoring position. Siemers bore down to strike out the next batter while the Indians’ faithful crowded in the grandstand simply absolutely, totally, to the bottom of their feet, to the ragged edge of maniac bonkers.
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Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians catcher Bryce Luelf gets the throw from first baseman Grant Clark for the out at home during the finals of the 66th Glen Winget Memorial Tournament. Leulf then threw back to Clark for the second out of the inning,
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville Doenges Toyota first baseman Grant Clark gets the second out from catcher Bryce Luelf during the finals of the 66th Glen Winget Memorial Tournament. Pitcher Kael Siemers then got the K for the final out of the game. The Indians won the championship.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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There wasn’t as much at stake the next day against Woody Meadows — but as described earlier, the Indians ended it with dramatic flair.
Pannell used a brigade of hill-toppers to keep Woody Meadows’ offense in check.
Lathe Griggs started and threw five innings of no-hit, shutout ball — although he generated plenty of action with seven walks and 12 strikeouts.
His brother Zane Griggs worked a scoreless inning in the sixth.
Pannell called on Zane Stricklin to pitch the seventh with the Indians nursing a 2-0 lead.
After Woody Meadows tied the score, 2-2, Pannell turned to Siemers to finish out the seventh and pitch the eighth. Siemers would pick up the win.
“He kind of thrives on pressure,” Pannell said. “Every now and then you get a kid like that, that wants be put in a pressure situation. A kid that wants the ball.”
On the offensive side, in the top of the eighth Siemers scored on a combination of Brett Eaves grounder and a throwing error. Later in the inning, Sam Marcella forced home Brett Eaves on a bases loaded walk to put the Indians ahead, 4-2.
Earlier in the game, Brenden Asher drove home a run.
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Bartlesville Doenges Toyota first baseman Sam Marcella gets an out against Tulsa Sandlot. The Indians fell in a heart breaker, 8-7.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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TULSA SANDLOT 8, BARTLESVILLE INDIANS 7
What a heartbreaker!
On Tuesday the Indians led late in the contest by three runs, 7-4, and appeared ready to slam the door shut on what would have been their eighth-straight victory at Rigdon Field in Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
But Tulsa tied it up in the bottom of the sixth, 7-7, and then, after Logan Smith doubled a team to third, scored the winning run on a pitch that got behind the catcher and allowed the runner at third to score.
The loss apparently knocked the Indians out of the DBAT College League postseason tournament.
The next major event on their schedule is the Stan Musial World Series.
The game's ebb-and-flow was dizzying. The Indians grabbed the first lead, Tulsa snapped back in front, the Indians rallied to regain the advantage and Tulsa barely pulled it out at the end.
Tulsa erupted for two runs in the bottom of the third to move ahead, 3-1. It could have been worse for the Indians.
Tulsa had runners on third and second when a batter ripped a ground ball to Indians’ third baseman Clark. Clark picked up the ball, looked the runner back to third and fired the ball to first in time for the out.
A couple of minutes later, a Tulsa hitter pulled a hard hopper through the right-side hole. Bartlesville second baseman Luelf made a valiant dive to his left but the ball barely eluded his glove and rolled into right, allowing a Tulsa run to score.
Trailing 3-1, the Indians made a feisty uprising in the top of the fourth, ignited by Clark’s streaking wormburner that skipped into left for a single past the diving third baseman’s glove.
Marcella then stepped up and was hit by a pitch, pushing Clark to second base. That set the table for Shea.
On a 2-and-0 pitch to Shea, Clark took off for third on a steal attempt. The pickoff throw was off target and rolled down the line, allowing Clark to come all the way home and trim Tulsa’s lead to 3-2. Shea ended up walking.
Then it was Luelf’s turn. He lifted a pop fly to mid-right field for a sacrifice fly to plate Marcella for the tying run.
The Indians’ fourth-inning rally continued when Siemers was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base. Eaves followed with a missile liner over the first baseman’s head although he managed to climb the ladder and the ball ticked off the top of his glove. Shea came around to score on the hit and power the Indians into the lead, 4-3.
Tulsa scratched home a run in the bottom of the fourth to pull even, 4-4. The visitor’s threatened to do more damage, with runners on third and second, but Indians’ pitcher Braelen Pippin escaped on a grounder back to him which he threw to first for the third out.
The energized Indians struck for three runs in the top of the fifth to take what seemed like it might be a back-breaking lead, 7-4.
But Tulsa opened the bottom of the fifth with a double, followed by a single. A pick-off error allowed the lead runner to score to narrow Bartlesville’s lead to 7-5. Tulsa tallied another run to make it a 7-6 game heading into the sixth frame.
In the bottom of the sixth, Tulsa managed to knot the score, 7-7, on a sacrifice fly.
Luelf singled in the top of the seventh to try to ignite a Bartlesville rally. But he would be retired trying to steal, leaving the game tied.
Pannell called on Zane Griggs in relief for the bottom of the seventh. He quickly recorded two outs, on a ground out to Luelf and a strikeout. But the next two batters reached on a walk and a hit, setting the table for Tulsa to barely squeeze out the win.