Rick Peck
Special To McDonald County Press
The McDonald County High School baseball team scored seven runs in the second inning on the way to building a 10-1 lead after three innings over the Wyandotte Bears before having to hold on in the late innings for a 12-9 win on Friday at Wyandotte High School.
"We didn't have many hits because there were so many walks," said coach Nick Martin. "The kids did a good job of staying patient and not swinging at bad pitches. We took advantage of the walks and their mistakes (seven Wyandotte errors) and scored enough runs to win."
McDonald County managed just two hits in the second inning but used three walks and three Wyandotte errors to plate seven runs. Dagan Stites and Mason Hendrix had the only two hits of the inning, including a run scoring single by Stites.
McDonald County scored a run in the first without a hit on four walks and a wild pitch. They added a pair of runs in the third on RBI singles by Hendrix and Brock Burnett to stretch their lead to 10-1.
But Wyandotte began chipping away at the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth off of McDonald County starting pitcher Jamie Hanke. The Bears added three in the bottom of the fifth off of Hanke and Burnett to cut the lead to 10-6.
Both teams scored single runs in the sixth and the Mustangs added one in the seventh before Wyandotte scored two in the bottom half of the inning on a walk, a hit and an error before Tyler Sellers ended the rally with a strikeout to get the save.
"Hanke didn't have his best stuff, but battled through four plus innings," Martin said. "Brock came in and did a good job of slowing them down and Tyler pitched well in the seventh. Wyandotte can swing the bats. They are 21-3 for a good reason. They can hit and have some good arms."
Hanke got the win, allowing six runs on nine hits in four and two-thirds innings. Burnett went an inning and a third, allowing a run on three hits before Sellers closed by allowing two runs on one hit in the seventh.
Hendrix finished with two of McDonald County's six hits while Stites, Hanke, Burnett and Victor Payne had one each.
Rogers Heritage
Rogers Heritage scored a run on a walk, a hit and a fielder's choice in the fourth inning for the game's only run in the War Eagles 1-0 win on April 21 in Rogers, Ark.
Hendrix was the tough-luck loser for the Mustangs, allowing just the one hit while striking out three.
"Obviously Mason threw a great game," Marin said. "It was his best game of the year. He deserved a better fate. Their only hit was a slow roller that found a hole."
McDonald County banged out six hits, but stranded eight runners.
"We couldn't get a timely hit," Martin said. "We had runners on base every inning except the first, but couldn't get a hit to drive them home."
Emitt Dalton had two hits to lead the Mustangs while Hendrix, Jarrett Sanny, Donovan Taylor and Seth Shockley each had one hit.
Webb City
The Webb City Cardinals scored three runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to rally for a 7-5 win on Monday at Webb City High School.
McDonald County staked Tyler Sellers to a 4-0 lead by scoring four runs on three hits, a hit by pitch and an error in the top of the second. Payne singled before Stites was hit by a pitch and Taylor singled to load the bases with one out.
Freshman Boston Dowd drove in two runs with a soft single down the right-field line. A third run scored on the play on a Webb City error, allowing Dowd to reach third base. Dalton followed with a sacrifice fly for the final run of the inning.
Webb City cut the lead to 4-1 in the bottom half of the inning before the Mustangs added a run in the fourth on a double by Payne, a groundout and a sacrifice fly by Stites.
But Webb City scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning and added three more in the sixth for the win. Sellers went the distance, allowing seven runs on eight hits. He struck out one and walked five.
Payne finished with two of the Mustangs four hits. Dowd and Taylor accounted for the only other two McDonald County hits.
The Mustangs fall to 11-13 for the season. Their next game is set for 5 p.m. on Friday versus Carl Junction at MCHS.
Sports on 04/28/2016