Doenges Toyota Indians rally for first win, lose in wacky nightcap
Bartlesville Doenges Toyota’s Grant Clark heads to second base during an earlier season game. The Indians split with Tulsa Sandlot on Sunday and head to Branson Mo. later this week.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
June 3, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
(Note: Bartlesville Radio provides live play-by-play coverage of Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indian games. The stations include KWON (1400-AM, 93.3 FM) and KPGM. The radio station also shows the games on KWONTV.)
Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium has been in use for approximately 95 years, has been graced by the athletic grace of future pro greats and even Hall-of-Famers, has survived a tornado’s assault and vicious jaws of multiple floods, has witnessed all-night baseball sessions — from sundown until sunrise the next morning — has created for hundreds of young men, many of who are now passed away, a lifetime’s repository of idyllic memories of unforgettable days of their carefree, energetic youthful days on the diamond and has helped cultivate the character of most these same warriors of the past and present.
But of all the action that has taken place within those stately and sturdy green walls, Sunday’s doubleheader between the 19-U Bartlesville Doenges Toyota Indians and the college-stacked Tulsa Sandlot team perhaps was one of the wackiest in the history of Bill’s Place.
Let’s get the nuts and bolts out of the way: Game 1 — Bartlesville Indians 5, Sandlot 4 (8 innings); Game 2 — Sandlot 22, Bartlesville Indians 12. Certainly the 5.5 hours required to play the twinbill had to be among the longest in Indians’ history. True, there have been other doubleheaders and even single games that might have lasted longer. But all of those were interrupted with weather delays.
Sunday’s evening weather was ideal. The upheaval took place on the green plains of Rigdon Field, where brilliant defense, stretches of strong pitching, a tidal wave of walks interspersed with daring baserunning and few big hits created a ballet of frenzied histrionics.
With the win in game one, the Indians (1-5) recorded their first season win. In game two, they led, 9-2, and appeared to be swooping toward the sweep.
But the Sandlot turned the tide — and then had to scratch out the run-rule.
Next up, Bartlesville — which is coached by John Pannell — travels this week to Branson, Mo., for some showcase games and tournament play. The Indians’ next scheduled home game is on June 18.
Following is a closer look at Sunday’s carnival of gritty twists and turns.
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INDIANS 5, TULSA SANDLOT 4 (8 inn.)
Truth is this was a pretty high quality game — except for the Indians’ continual struggle to produce base hits.
In fact they managed just one single — an infield special by Jaxon Zaun — in this win. Still, they sculpted out the victory.
It all came down to the last two innings.
After Tulsa had inched ahead, 4-3, the Indians forced extra innings when Brenden Asher scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Indians had loaded the bases with three walks — one each to Asher, Kael Siemers and Grant Clark. Asher came home to tie the game, 4-4, on a wild pitch with Adrian O’Dell at the plate.
In the top of the eight, relief pitcher Siemers retired Tulsa quickly, thanks partly to clutch defensive plays at third by Clark.
The Indians then won it in the bottom of the eighth. Bryce Luelf led off with a walk and advanced on Hunter Shea’s walk to set the table for Asher. On the fourth pitch of the count, Asher hit a blistering shot that turned into a fielder’s choice sending Luelf home for the walk-off run.
But the Indians had been in control a good portion of the way, thanks largely to the work of starting pitcher Sam Marcella, with Luelf as his catcher.
Marcella survived a tough first inning, leaving two runners stranded when O’Dell made the third out on a grounder.
In the bottom of the first, the Indians crept out ahead, 2-0. As mentioned, they did it more with their eyes and their savvy than their bats.
Liam Buchanan and Shea led off with back-to-back walks. But, on an attempted steal of third Buchanan would be tagged for the second out.
However Eddie Rice came up next and kept the rally going with a walk. Siemers followed with base on balls to load the bases for Clark. Clark walked on four pitches to force home Shea for the first run.
Moments later, Zaun also walked, pushing Rice across the plate for a 2-0 lead.
The 2-0 advantage held up until the third when Tulsa scored one run on a triple followed by a single.
Bartlesville answered in the bottom of the third despite hitting into a double play. Asher led off with a walk, moved to third on the twin-killing and dashed home on an error (on a ball put in play by Clark) to push Bartlesville’s lead to 3-1.
With Marcella and his defense rolling like a freshly-greased locomotive, the 3-1 lead held up until the seventh inning.
But Tulsa made a last ditch rally in the top of the seventh, highlighted by Cale Winfrey’s two-run double, to move into the lead, 4-3.
As mentioned, Asher played a pivotal role in both scoring the tying run in the bottom of the seventh and bringing home the winning tally in the eighth.
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TULSA SANDLOT 22, INDIANS 12
The only thing lacking in this one was Rod Serling’s ethereal voice moaning in the night sky above the stadium “Welcome to the Twilight Zone.”
Once again walks and hit batsmen provided most of the offense for both teams.
Bartlesville bolted to an 8-2 lead in the first two innings.
Offensive highlights for the Indians included: Owen Dum’s RBI single, two runs scored on an error on a ball put in play by Siemers, a single by Shea that eventually set up a delayed steal that allowed Siemers to pilfer home plate and a run-scoring single by Luelf.
Armed with an 8-2 lead, Indians’ pitcher Zane Stricklin looked strong partway into the third inning.
But Logan Smith’s two-run base hit in the inning jumped started Tulsa’s offense into a five-run rally. It might have been worse if not for an acrobatic running catch by centerfielder Shea.
The Sandlot dam broke in the bottom of the fourth — 12 runs to surge to a 19-8 lead.
However the Indians weren’t done.
They came back with four runs in the top of the fifth — thanks to seven walks issued by Tulsa pitching. Luelf, Dum, Asher and Zaun each draw bases-loaded walks.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Sandlot struck for three more tallies to end the game on run-rule — well past 11 p.m.