BARTLESVILLE — Apparently tired of the come-from-behind antics, Connors State finally took the NJCAA Region II tournament — and Arkansas-Fort Smith — by the throat late Sunday afternoon at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.

After Justin Worby’s solo home run in the second, Michael Zurmehly capped a four-run third inning with a two-run single, giving the Cowboys a 5-0 lead en route to a 6-1 victory in the decisive game of a what became a doubleheader championship series.

The win gives Connors its sixth Region II title, the last coming in 2006.

“These guys were so prepared,” Cowboys coach Perry Keith said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and this bunch is so even-keeled. Mentally, nothing bothered them.”

After chasing UAFS starter Chase Hutchingson from the mound in the fateful fourth, Connors added another run in the sixth on Brandon Smith’s one-out solo home run before Shane Cameron, who scattered seven hits, walked Colton West in the seventh, who would score on a groundout by Kyle Decker. Cameron improved to 10-2 on the season.

Connors (44-17), the second seed in the tournament, advances to this week’s South Central District tournament which the Cowboys will host at Biff Thompson Field beginning Friday. Fifth-seeded UAFS (43-18) saw its season come to an end with the second loss in three tournament games to the Cowboys, who began the tournament with a 14-4 win over UAFS — and Cameron, who scattered nine hits for the victory in that contest.

“Shane Cameron would not let us lose,” Keith said. “He came back after beating them Thursday and would not give them anything. It was clutch on his part — everyone was clutch. Our defense turned three or four double plays behind him.”

After rallying for victories in two games, it didn’t work a third time early Sunday as UAFS forced the “if necessary” game of the double-elimination affair, fighting off three comeback attempts before winning 5-4 in 10 innings.

Connors tied it at 2 in the sixth inning, swapped runs in the eighth and ninth before failing to answer Matt Whiting’s one-out single in the 10th off losing pitcher Garret Graziano.

Down 2-0 in Sunday’s first game, Worby’s one-out sacrifice fly put the Cowboys on the scoreboard, then Brett Coffman doubled off the wall in right-center, moving Smith to third. Smith scored on a throwing error on the same play to tie the game at 2.

Then in the eighth, after UAFS went back on top on Jared Richmond’s solo home run, Worby, whose game-ending grand slam accounted for one of the comeback wins in the tournament against Eastern, hit a two-out RBI single.

In the ninth, UAFS again took the lead, this time on Muskogee High-ex Jordan Sallis’s two-out RBI single. Connors’ third answer came when Smith walked and later scored on a dropped third strike with two outs.

“We had chances to win that one, but we just couldn’t get anyone in (to score),” Keith said. “I’m so proud of how the guys bounced back and handled everything.”