Dowdell walk-off keeps Clinton alive

Cardiac Clinton Maroon (26-8) resuscitated its state tournament life from the dead Wednesday afternoon. A comeback on day one of the tournament went to the wayside in extra innings. This time Clinton wouldn’t go away in the elimination bout with the Leedey Bison, dropping them in extra innings, 16-15.
Clinton’s bottom of the lineup had to step up and meet the challenge of erasing Leedey’s 15-12 lead or see the season end. Isaac Villa got the inning started with a single to left.
Two at-bats later, Evan Hunter dropped in a double to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Jeter King initiated the scoring on the next at-bat with a hard-hit ground ball to right scoring one and putting another runner at third still trailing 15-13.
Benton Bridgeman then stepped to the plate and displayed his clutch gene to the Bison. He stroked one to center field, sending it past diving outfielders. The hit easily scored two, tying the game, 15-15, and brought Bridgeman around to third for a two-RBI triple. 
With a man at third and one out, Snider Dowdell locked in on one of his dad’s (Ernie) pitches and went oppo (opposite field) on the Bison, sending a single to right. Before Bridgeman could touch home plate, Dowdell knew he'd hit the game winner, raising his hands as he ran down the first base line. The hit sealed a walk-off, 16-15 win. Dowdell never made it to the celebratory teammate mob in the dugout, as his dad picked him up to celebrate at the mound.
Head coach Nathan Meget again gave his team the credit for finding a way to win.
“We work on that in practice all the time,” he said. “A guy on third base, less than two outs, and we’re trying to hit it as hard as we can. Snider put a good barrel on it. The play of the game was Benton Bridgeman. Benton hasn't had a hard-hit ball probably in a month. 
“Benton came up this morning for an hour and worked with coach (Jeff) King, myself and Eli (Anderson), and it’s fun to see him do exactly what we worked on. The kid hits the triple to tie it up. It’s a great job by him. I’m proud of those guys, because they’ve persevered. We still haven’t played our best baseball, and they just keep finding a way to stick around.”
Clinton started off with the lead early. The bats rolled up a 6-3 lead in the first inning. Clinton’s first six batters logged a hit before any outs were recorded. A seesaw ensued after the first inning. Leedey took an 8-7 lead in the second inning. 
Clinton stole the lead back with five runs in the third, 12-8. The Bison went on a 4-0 run over the next two innings to force extras for the second straight game. Leedey continued its barrage, extending its lead to 15-12 before the comeback from Clinton.
The win elevated Clinton into the final 12 teams remaining in the tourney. The team was scheduled to play at 5 p.m. Thursday versus the Noble Cubs.