Nevada baseball ties school record for wins

Nevada Daily Mail

ANDERSON -- After a disappointing loss in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday, the Nevada High School baseball team bounced back in game two to earn a split at McDonald County.

The Tigers accomplished something a little more important, too.

With the game-two victory, Nevada tied a school record for wins in a season with 15.

Nevada is now 15-7 on the season. The 1995 team coached by Chris Adams and the 2001 team coached by Tyson Beshore also reached 15 wins.

A late rally fell just short as the Tigers dropped game one 6-5 to McDonald County. But in game two, the Tigers got the bats going in a big way and knocked off the Mustangs 10-3 to earn a split.

Game one

A late insurance run proved to be huge for the Mustangs, who held on late for the game-one victory.

Mac County's Drey Fickle hit a two-run homer off Cory Kerbs in the bottom of the first to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. Next, Kently Self hit a two-run homer for Mac County in the second to make it 4-0.

Nevada got on the board in the third on an RBI double from Lane Ketterman, scoring Brett Norton.

Nevada added a run in the fifth. Grant Wolfe singled and went to second on an error. Wolfe stole third and then came home on the play when the throw sailed away, making it 4-2.

Mac County extended its lead in the bottom half on an RBI sac fly from Rodney Leland, giving the hosts a 5-2 lead.

In the sixth, Nevada had runners on the corners and then pulled off a double steal, as Huggins scored from third to cut Mac County's lead to 5-3. Kerbs was safe at second on the play. Mac County then got out of the inning.

But Trent Cook's bloop single drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth to give the Mustangs an insurance run and a 6-3 advantage. The run ended up being a big one.

Nevada had one last chance in the seventh, and the Tigers made things interesting. Norton led off the inning with a single. After Wolfe was retired, Ketterman blasted a two-run homer to make it 6-5. But Easton Mitchell grounded out and then Cole Sanderson struck out to end the game.

Nevada had six hits in the game, and Ketterman had three RBIs on two hits.

Brandon Stites went the distance for the Mustangs and earned the win on the hill, striking out eight.

A senior right-hander, Kerbs went five innings on the mound and took the loss. He gave up seven hits and struck out three. Wolfe took over in the sixth.

Game two

The Tigers got the bats going right away. Bubba Banes hit a two-run homer in the first and the Tigers led 4-0 right away. Mac County's Cook hit a three-run homer in the third, but Nevada's Kerbs hit an RBI double to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead.

Next, the Tigers put up three more runs to go ahead 8-3 in the fourth. Two more runs in the sixth made it 10-3 in favor of the visitors. The score held up and the Tigers earned a historic victory.

With the split, Mac County fell to 7-14.

Nevada will finish the regular season today at Harrisonville at 4:30 p.m.

The Tigers will begin the Class 3, District 13 Tournament on Monday, May 14 at Clinton with a 6 p.m. game with El Dorado Springs.

Of course, one more win will give Marty Atnip's Tigers a new school record for wins in a season.