Tigers down and out of district tournament

Nevada senior David Hawks slides into third after hitting an RBI triple in the third inning of Monday's game against McDonald County. Nevada lost the first round game of the Class 3, District 12 tournament in Carthage, 11-4, ending their season. [Click to enlarge]

Nevada Daily Mail

Susceptible to big innings all season long, the Nevada Tigers were done in during the first round of the Class 3, District 12 tournament by two big McDonald County innings in an 11-4 loss.

Nevada outplayed the third-seeded Mustangs in five of the game's seven innings. Unfortunately, the other two were enough to propel McDonald County into the tournament semifinals.

The Mustangs scored five runs in the third inning to erase a 4-0 Nevada lead, then put the game away with seven runs in the sixth.

The sixth-seeded Tigers were plagued by untimely errors during the two decisive frames -- a familiar theme this season -- as they committed four in all, matching both their hit and run totals.

In the third inning it was an error by catcher Keith Overton on a dropped third strike and missed throw to first that opened the floodgates. Tiger starting pitcher Cody Thompson was cruising, having retired the first seven hitters he faced. With one out in the third, Thompson struck out designated hitter Tony Morgan on a nasty curveball that ended up in the dirt. Overton knocked it down but could not immediately locate the ball. When he did pick it up, Overton was forced to hurry the throw to first, and the relay bounced off Morgan's back, allowing him to reach base.

Thompson struck out the next hitter, but two singles and a walk plated two runs and left two on for McDonald County's cleanup hitter Jeremiah Anderson. Anderson did what good cleanup hitters do, driving a full-count pitch over the left field fence, giving the Mustangs a 5-4 lead.

As McDonald County was finally getting their offense going, Nevada's was being shut down. Mustang Ben Allman relieved starting pitcher Blake Sultzer to start the fourth inning and did not allow a hit to the Tigers the rest of the way.

Brett Clark reached on a two-base error on a misplayed fly ball by McDonald County's right fielder with two outs in the fourth. Clark was the only Nevada hitter to reach base against Allman, who struck out six in four innings.

Nevada had taken advantage of two McDonald County errors in the top of the third inning, as Mustang shortstop Seth Walters struggled.

The Tigers plated three runs, all unearned, as Overton reached on a throwing error by Walters with two outs. Overton stole second and scored on a double by Thompson. Justin Reed then hit a sharp grounder to Walters, who misplayed it for his second error of the inning. The ball skipped into left field and Thompson scored. David Hawks, one of three seniors participating in their final game with Nevada, blasted an RBI triple over left fielder Shelby Slinkard's head, scoring Reed. Hawks was left on third, but Nevada had built a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers had struck first in the second inning when Hawks singled, went to second on a balk and scored on a single by Chris Eador. The four early runs by Nevada had them feeling good about their chances of an upset.

"We had them on the ropes for a while," Nevada coach Jared Brown said. "It was a good feeling."

The way Thompson was throwing, Nevada had to like their chances staked to a 4-0 lead.

Outside the five unearned runs in the bottom of the third, Thompson allowed only one baserunner in the first five frames. The sophomore southpaw was locating his fastball on both sides of the plate, and was mixing in timely off-speed pitches and breaking balls. Anderson's home run was the only ball hit hard off Thompson until the bottom of the sixth.

In the sixth the Mustangs chased Thompson after an error by left fielder Dakota Bright and two singles.

"I"m really proud of his effort," Brown said of his pitcher. "He came out and kept the ball down."

Senior Kevin Post relieved Thompson in the sixth and gave up three unearned runs of his own, while McDonald County broke the game open. The sixth was highlighted by a three-run double by Allman, who finished with five RBIs.

The loss sent Nevada to 6-16 this season overall. McDonald County plays Carl Junction in the district semifinals tonight.

Other first-round district winners were Carthage and Webb City, which barely edged East Newton 6-4.

Nevada's other senior was Charles Reaves, who did not play.

"Hats off to our seniors," Brown said. "We're going to miss them a lot next season."

Even though the season ended early for Nevada, Brown was not disappointed with the team.

"I'm very proud of the way we played. We played hard the whole game."