Cubs fall 16-13 to Archer City

OLNEY—  The Olney High School baseball team opened up District II Region II play Monday against Archer City, but fell 16-13.

An early scoring explosion allowed Archer City to take an early lead, but the Cubs would fight back only for their rally for fall short by three runs.

“We woke up and finally started playing,” Olney coach Kevin Bartley said. “We came out just a bit off. I don’t think we were unprepared, we just had a lack of focus coming out. Errors killed us. We had nine errors and eight walks. It’s kind of hard to compete like that.”

After trailing by five heading into the fourth inning, the Cubs knotted the score at five, only to fall back down after an eight-run inning by Archer City. The Cubs would chip away at the Wildcats’ lead, but even a seven-run seventh inning was not enough for the win. Senior first baseman Brent McCorkle would go on to lead the Cubs in runs batted in with three.

“We realized we can hit off them and started putting our bats to use,” Bartley said. “Unfortunately we realized that in the seventh inning and it was too late.”

Before facing Archer City, the Cubs had a bit of a tune-up of sorts during Saturday’s OHS Alumni Game. While most alumni games feature players far from their peak, Olney faced players just months removed from their time on the diamond. The Cubs and the Alumni would end the game in a 10-10 tie. Bartley believes it was a great experience for his players, especially when they have the chance to face former teammates.

“This is only my third year and I don’t have a lot of contacts with the older alumni,” Bartley said. “Hopefully, the guys that played will start spreading the word. A lot of guys that were playing played for me the last couple of years and came back. Dylan Hudson went to Murray State. He wanted to be a position player so he transferred to Ranger (College).

“I knew what they were capable of and it was a pretty good ball team. I truly believe we could have gone deeper in the playoffs than we did. They were a good solid team and there was a lot of talent that we saw and competed with. Dylan was pitching and we were able to hit off him. That is a sign we’re improving.”