Tigers beat Mount Vernon, advance to district championship

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Eric Wade/Daily Mail Nevada senior Ron Johnson connects for an RBI double in the fourth inning of Tuesday's district semifinal game against the Mount Vernon Mountaineers.

By Eric Wade

Nevada Daily Mail

First district tournament win in seven seasons? Make that two.

Nevada senior Ross Wolfe slides in safely for an RBI triple in the second inning of Tuesday's district semifinal game at Seneca.

Following a strong performance in opening round play against the Patriots of East Newton, the Nevada Tigers varsity baseball team got into action against a familiar foe in the Mountaineers of Mount Vernon at the Seneca Baseball and Softball Complex Tuesday. The two teams had already squared off once this season in the Bill O'Dell tournament at Carthage -- a game in which the Tigers held off a strong late offensive onslaught to earn a 17-14 victory by the tournament's 2-hour, 15-minute time limit.

Tuesday's contest was a much different story, but held a similar ending as the Tigers worked their way to a 9-3 victory behind some good offense and a nearly perfect performance on the mound by senior Ross Wolfe.

"It was a good game all around," Tigers head coach Kellan Foster said. "Both teams played excellent today."

Wolfe began the day with some marked control issues on the mound as he worked all six batters he faced into deep counts. Freshman catcher Brady Denney was forced to make a number of strong digs to keep the Mountaineers off the board, but Wolfe was eventually able to make a quick recovery, striking out the side in the opening frame and leaving the bases loaded without allowing a run.

That lapse appeared to simply be a momentary one, however, as Wolfe quickly regained his control, finishing out the remainder of the game allowing just three runs -- one earned -- on seven hits. Wolfe also finished what was arguably one of his strongest performances of the year with seven strikeouts to just four walks.

"Ross commanded the mound very well, had his struggles in one inning and battled through it. You'd have thought the last two innings he threw were his first two by the way he was bouncing around on the mound and really looked good."

The Tigers wasted little time getting to Mount Vernon starter Cody Lee as they were able to put the bat on the ball right from the outset of the contest. Through the first four innings, the Tigers were not really able to take advantage of many of those hits, however, holding a slim, 4-3 lead.

But that all changed as the home half of the fifth inning began. As they have done for much of the year, the Tigers seemed to become an entirely different club in the fifth as they were finally able to capitalize on a string of hits, putting the final nail in the Mountaineers' coffin with a five-run rally.

"The last couple games, we've had offense in spurts," Foster said. "While I'll take any offense we can get at any time, I'd like to see us spread it around a little bit and, you know, be consistent with the runs we're scoring."

That one big inning that the Tigers have come to rely upon maybe a little too much throughout the year proved to be enough this time as Wolfe was able to pitch his way to a complete game victory by a final score of 9-3. Despite scoring nine runs on 10 hits in the contest, the Tigers were also the beneficiaries of five Mount Vernon errors, leading to three of those runs being scored as unearned.

Sophomore Cory Kerbs led the Tigers with two runs scored and three more batted in on the day while Wolfe helped his own cause with one RBI and one run scored. Kyle "Bubba" Banes scored one and knocked in two while senior Nathan Ryan knocked in a run of his own.

"I'm proud of the kids and their effort and the ownership they've taken in the last week of wanting this district championship," Foster said. "Today, I asked them how many district championships they've won in the four years, whether it was football basketball or baseball and they haven't won any. And for them to be able to have a chance to leave a mark as seniors winning their last possible district championship. You know, how big of a deal that would be five, 10 years down the road, them getting the chance to come back and see what they accomplished hanging on the wall."

Despite that confidence, effort and marked level of pride that Foster and his players have used to carry them this far, the road is far from over. That win improved the Tigers' overall record to an even 10-10 on the year, but Thursday's district championship contest will prove to be a tough challenge, regardless of who the opposition may be.

The Tigers are slated to play that game against either top-seeded Carl Junction or the Bulldogs of El Dorado Springs on Thursday at 5 p.m.

"I know they'll be motivated and I know it's important to them," Foster said. "It's going to be, you know, a matter of us coming and being ready to go on Thursday."

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