FARMINGTON – The opening night of bracket play for the 2023 Connie Mack World Series proved to be the perfect place for some extraordinary performances Sunday night at Ricketts Park.

The Tulsa Sandlot baseball team, coached by Gunner Glad and making their first appearance in the annual tournament, stunned the defending champion Midland Redskins 2-1 in nine innings to advance to the second round.

Meantime, pitcher Jack Hickerson threw seven strikeouts over six innings to guide the Dallas Tigers to a 2-1 opening night win over the NOLA Cardinals.

Here’s a recap of how it all went down on opening night of the CMWS:

In a game that featured 28 strikeouts and only 11 hits combined between the two teams, it was the final hit of the night that made all the difference.

Taber Stokes’ hard ground ball to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Ashton Bennight and gave the Tulsa Sandlot a 2-1 victory over the Midland Redskins in front of a near capacity crowd Sunday night at Ricketts Park.

The Tulsa Sandlot scored in the first inning and again in the final inning of the contest, keeping the Midland offense at bay most of the night while getting solid performances on the mound.

Starting pitcher Brady Hamilton threw six innings and struck out 11 batters, allowing only four hits and one run to score. The recent commit to Wichita State University from Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Oklahoma was in command much of the night.

“Our staff knew Hamilton would be the guy who gets the nod on opening night,” said Glad. “No moment is too big, and you can tell just by watching him that he’s having fun out there.”

Tulsa drew first blood in the contest in the opening frame with runners on first and third with one out, scoring on a pickoff attempt to second base that turned into an error. Taylor Tomlin trotted home on the play and gave Sandlot a one-run advantage that they’d hold until the fifth inning.

In the top of the fifth, Nate Souza led off with a solo home run over the center field wall that tied the game.

Midland left runners on base in each of the final four innings of the contest, unable to take advantage of traffic on the basepaths.

“Tonight was about grit,” Glad said. “We have some tough, never give up mentalities in that dugout and it showed.”

Colin Fisher came into the game on the mound for Sandlot in the seventh inning, striking out a pair of batters before Jett Hope threw two solid innings, not giving up a base hit while striking out four and walking a pair.

“All three arms commanded the zone with multiple pitches and kept Midland guessing,” Glad said.

Midland starting pitcher Chase Herrell struck out nine batters, allowing only four hits and three walks over seven innings of work before he was replaced in the eighth inning by Carson Marsh. The pair of pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts on the night.

Austin Lemon went 3-for-4 at the plate for Tulsa with a double, while Stokes, in addition to driving in the game-winner, had a pair of hits to pace the offense.

Tulsa Sandlot, one of two teams in the CMWS from the state of Oklahoma and winners of the Ozarks regional tournament last month in Joplin, Missouri, played Sunday night’s contest in front of the largest crowd the team has seen all season.

“It’s always nice to win that first game of the bracket, especially in front of a packed stadium with our team’s fans behind you,” Glad said. “We came here to play the best teams in the country and these kids will never forget this game.”

Tulsa’s win allows the team to compete in the second round of the championship bracket, where they’ll face the Dallas Tigers at 1 p.m. on Tuesday at Ricketts Park.

Dating back to the 2021 CMWS, won by the Enid Majors, teams from the state of Oklahoma remain unbeaten in bracket play during the event. The Majors went 6-0 in winning the World Series, capping off an unbeaten summer campaign.

The Oklahoma Express, winners of the South Plains regional tournament earlier this month, will be in action Monday at 5:15 p.m. at Ricketts Park when they open bracket play against Dulin’s Dodgers.

The loss puts the Redskins in the precarious position of needing to win out in order to defend last year’s Connie Mack World Series championship. They’ll begin that journey at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Farmington Sports Complex, where they’ll face the NOLA Cardinals.

Pitcher Jack Hickerson struck out seven batters over six innings of work, walking only one and surrendering one run on two hits in an outstanding performance as the Tigers outlasted the NOLA Cardinals by a score of 2-1.

The win sends the Tigers into the second round of the championship bracket and a Tuesday contest against the Tulsa Sandlot at Ricketts Park.

Hickerson, a recent commit to Baylor University from Denton Guyer High School, started the game giving up a leadoff double to NOLA’s Tanner Hornback, but his defense got him out of that jam with three routine outs to end the inning.

“(Hickerson) was in command after the leadoff hitter,” said Tigers head coach Brett Bergman. “He got his velocity up as the game wore on and that was an important outing for us.”

The Tigers came up with eight hits in the game, scoring a run in the top of the first inning when Louis Boussard drove in leadoff hitter Sawyer Strosnider, who opened the contest with a double.

“We had some timely hitting and made the most of the opportunities,” Bergman said. “That was a big outing for all of us.”

NOLA tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Colton Harrison scored on a fielder’s choice.

NOLA pitcher Landon Cortez threw 5 ⅓ innings, striking out a pair of batters while allowing eight hits and five walks in the contest.

The Tigers reclaimed the lead in the top half of the fifth inning when pinch hitter Zach Applegate drove in Park Prater, who led off the frame with a single.

Relief pitcher Caleb Hooper threw a flawless seventh inning to end the contest as NOLA hitters failed to get on base through the final 3 ⅓ innings.

“To win a double elimination tournament, it’s awfully hard to do if you lose the first game,” Bergman said. “So to get the first one out of the way is a really big deal.”

Day two of the Connie Mack World Series championship bracket gets underway Monday with four games at Ricketts Park, beginning at 10 a.m. with the Albuquerque Baseball Academy facing the Colton (CA) Nighthawks.

For more information on the tournament bracket, visit the Connie Mack official website at CMWS.org.