Tigers split tournament games

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- The 36th annual Bill O'Dell tournament got a bit of an odd form of aid in its efforts to provide a pleasing experience for all fans in attendance this year -- wind. The first two days of the tournament were afflicted by a stiff breeze throughout both days' action, thus leading to scores that resembled football rather than baseball games.

With balls carrying through the air at astonishing rates, several of the teams involved in this year's tournament were able to reach double-digit run totals. The Nevada Tigers were involved in two such games Tuesday afternoon as they followed up a 10-0 defeat by run rule at the hands of the Webb City Cardinals with a 17-14 victory over the Mount Vernon Mountaineers.

In the first game of the day, the Tigers took the field against the third-seeded Cardinals and proved to be at a decided disadvantage right from the outset. Webb City's bats got off to a quick start as the Cardinals notched three hits in a two-run first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.

Starter Gage Belcher came out strong for the Cardinals as well, keeping the Tigers off balance at the plate throughout the duration of the contest. The Cardinals' offense had little trouble scoring throughout the entire contest as they put up multiple runs on two more occasions on their way to a 10-0 win in six frames.

The Cardinals went just went inning without adding to their run total in the game as the Tigers held them to just one hit in the fifth. The Tigers, on the other hand, finished the contest with just three total hits.

That loss gave the Tigers a very quick turnaround as they were forced to take the field once again immediately following that contest in an attempt to stave off elimination from the tournament. The second contest of the day was a much different scenario for the Tigers as they took on the Mount Vernon Mountaineers and slugged their way to a 17-14 victory.

"You know, Webb City came out and threw the Belcher kid who kept us off balance most of the contest," Tigers head coach Kellan Foster said. "And then coming out and seeing a little bit different arm action from the Mount Vernon kid. The kids were able to get on him early and put some runs on the board."

Things looked good for the Tigers right from the outset of that contest as they opened the game touching Mount Vernon starter Cody Lee for four runs in the opening frame. The Mountaineers wasted little time in making a comeback, however, as they put up two runs of their own in the home half of the frame, taking a 4-2 deficit into the second.

The Tigers increased their lead to three runs in the second inning as Zach Vignolo drove a 2-2 pitch to the wall in center field -- 444 feet from the plate. Though the ball did stay inside the fence, the depth of the field and a minor misstep by the Mount Vernon center fielder, Vignolo was able to circle the bases for his first inside-the-park home run.

The Tigers went on to add four more runs in the third inning before an unexpected defensive change had to be made. Catcher Cody Craithorne has battled knee problems for near as long as he has been playing the game, ultimately leading to his exit from the contest. In his place came a somewhat surprising face -- regular shortstop Ross Wolfe.

"Ross is not only a great ball player, but a quality kid and was ready to jump in and play catcher when he was called on," Foster said. "That's not where we like to have him, we like to have him at short. But when he's needed, he'll do whatever and that's one of the things I enjoy about Ross."

Wolfe stayed behind the plate for the remainder of the game, suffering just a few minor miscues that would be expected from a player who is out of his regular position.

As the top of the third inning came to a close, it looked as though the Tigers had the game well in hand as they had worked their way to a 9-0 lead. But that was when the fireworks began.

The two teams seemed to be simply flexing their offensive muscles for the remainder of the contest as they traded runs and ultimately found themselves in a much closer contest.

After allowing three runs in the third, the Tigers found themselves up by just four runs at 9-5. That didn't seem to faze any of the Nevada players, however, as they simply mounted another rally, putting up three more runs to extend the lead back up to seven at 12-5.

The Tigers looked as though they may put the game away with a five-run rally in the top of the fifth to take a 17-6 lead with just three outs left to secure the win. Mount Vernon had other ideas, however, as it mounted an eight-run rally in the home half of the frame to cut the Nevada lead to just three at 17-14 and seemingly extend the contest.

That was not to be, however, as tournament rules dictated that the game be called off after 2 hours and 15 minutes, giving Nevada a 17-14 victory.

After that win, the Tigers are now faced with a substantial issue in that they have used up most of their already somewhat thin pitching staff.

"We've thrown about all of our arms. We've got a couple of kids that hopefully will be ready to go tomorrow," Foster said. "Hopefully Cory Kerbs will be able to come up and throw either against Seneca or Carthage. And then we've got Ross Wolfe again that threw last time against Carthage."

With those contests, the Tigers pushed their overall record to 3-3 on the year and are set to play for the tournament's consolation bracket championship tonight at 7 p.m., at Carl Lewton Stadium against either Carthage or Seneca.

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