Tigers' playoff run ends at Branson

Friday, May 30, 2003

BRANSON, Mo. -- The Tigers' state playoff hopes were dashed by a 14-3 loss to the Branson Pirates in the sectional round on Thursday. Nevada (13-13) was jostled or, perhaps, "joshed" out of the playoffs by Branson starter Josh Cross and winning reliever Josh Reno. The two Josh's combined to limit the Tigers to only four hits, all singles. Senior second baseman Trent Thompson stroked three of the four, with a 3-for-3 day, and sophomore shortstop Matt Dobson collected the other. "I think we used all our hits up last week in district," said Nevada coach Tyson Beshore. After two scoreless innings, Nevada, aided by Cross' wildness and a two-base error, plated two in the third to overcome a 1-0 Branson lead. Zach Sandoval drew a bases-loaded walk to push the first run home and the Tigers' leading hitter Chris Deming's fielders' choice grounder chased home the second. But Branson bounced right back with three runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 7-2 advantage. A seven-run Pirate' sixth broke the contest wide open. "We were able to put together an inning that allowed us to have a chance to move on," said Branson coach Steve Lael, whose team improved to 21-7. Branson meets Willard on Saturday in the quarterfinals. "My hat's off to them," said Beshore. "They're a great ballclub." Lefthander Danny Penn (6-4) started for the Tigers and pitched two hitless, scoreless innings before yielding a run in the third on an RBI double by cleanup hitter Jacob Hamon. In the fourth, consecutive one-out walks, followed by an RBI single from the ninth-place hitter Bobby Afshar, who went 4-for-5, tied the game at 2-2. A third run scored on a sacrifice fly. The Tigers appeared to be out of the inning when Dobson caught a soft liner for the apparent third out. But when he dropped the ball after taking a couple of steps after the catch, the umpire switched his call from out to safe, ruling he didn't have control. Granted a fourth out, Branson capitalized on Loren Storey's basehit which drove in the fourth run and increased the margin to 4-2. Branson added three more in the fifth. Storey's opposite-field liner through the hole at shortstop drove home two runs and sent the Pirates up 7-2. "He's (Penn) a good left-handed pitcher and we felt fortunate to get some things going with him out there," said Lael. Junior righthander Grant Pierson relieved and pitched a scoreless sixth. Then in the nightmarish seventh, with senior righthander Drew Clark on the mound, the Pirates exploded for six hits and seven runs. Hamon drove home two with a bases-loaded single. Storey and Hamon, the third and fourth hitters in the Pirates' lineup, hurt the Tigers with two hits and three RBIs apiece. Branson totaled 13 hits. Nevada picked up a final run, unearned, in the seventh when Thompson's single scored Penn, who had reached on an error. In the aftermath, Beshore expressed pride in the Tigers' late-season surge to a district championship, his first in three years at the helm. "I'm just proud of our kids," he said. "They came together as a team last week, had a great week, took care of business and put ourselves in position to get to play for this. "I'm more proud of 'em for that than anything else. Wins and losses are going to come and go, but I'm just so proud of the type of kids we have in our program right now."

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