Comanche blanked by Marlow

Comanche stayed within striking distance for most of its game against visiting Marlow on Monday, but the Indians could never get their offense going in a 7-0 district loss.

The Outlaws led 4-0 through six innings, but an error by the Indians in the top of the seventh opened the door for Marlow to put up three runs and give the Outlaws a comfortable lead with Comanche down to its last three outs.

Comanche coach Craig Coheley thought his team hung tough throughout, especially starting pitcher Carson Vansickle who only gave up two earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched.

“Marlow is a really good team,” Coheley said. “They have a good hitting team and they have good pitching. I thought our guy Carson Vansickle pitched a really good game. He could have easily gotten out of here with a 4-0 loss, which is pretty respectable against them. He’s been real consistent all year. He’s 5-2 with a save and he’s our best guy.”

The Indians were limited to one hit, a double by Kanon Clift.

Vansickle had seven strikeouts in the game and walked two. Payton Jones came in to record the final out of the top of the final inning on just two pitches.

Five of Marlow’s eight hits in the game were doubles.

The game against Marlow was the first game since last Tuesday for the Indians. They were scheduled to participate in a tournament in Newcastle, but the tournament was washed out before a single pitch was thrown.

Coheley was not that disappointed about not being able to play and saw it as a blessing in disguise.

“We weren’t really upset that it was rained out because we needed a break,” Coheley said. “We’ve been thin on pitching and the kids have played a lot of games in a short amount of time, so it really didn’t bother us.”

With the loss, Comanche dropped to 10-11 overall on the season. The Indians were scheduled to play at Marlow on Tuesday.

“We’ve improved over the season,” Coheley said. “We’ve had some tough breaks. We lost our catcher and had to move some people around, but one thing that we’ve done all year long is have a good attitude, get better and improve every time we play. I’m happy with the kids and the effort they are giving.”

Comanche dropped to 2-5 in District 3A-1. Marlow improved to 12-5 overall and 7-0 in the district.

A day after losing 14-3 to Marietta, Comanche bounced back to win by shutout as Carson Vansickle pitched a four-hit complete game.He had 12 strikeouts in the game and 67 of the 95 pitches (71 percent) he threw were for strikes.

Clayton Brantner accounted for two of Comanche’s four hits, including an RBI and a run scored. Payton Jones was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Cooper Dobbins was 1-for-3 with a run scored.