Rick Peck
Special To McDonald County Press
Usually in high school baseball, when you throw seven innings of scoreless ball, you pick up a shutout win. But Jaime Hanke had to settle for just a win in the Mustangs 7-6 win over Fort Scott on Monday night at MCHS.
That's because Hanke's seven innings of shut out ball came in innings 10-16 instead of 1-7.
Hanke's heroics -- not including his pitching duties -- included the junior right-hander hammering a walk-off home run with one out in the bottom of the 16th inning.
Mason Hendrix went the first five innings for the Mustangs, allowing four runs on eight hits, Tyler Sellers went four innings, allowing two runs on two hits. Both of Fort Scott's runs off of Sellers came on Kaleb DeLatorre's two-run homer in the top of the seventh to tie the game a 6-6, setting up what turned out to be the longest game in McDonald County history.
McDonald County scored two runs in the first, two in the second and one in the third to take an early 5-0 lead. Fort Scott cut the margin to 5-4 with a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings. McDonald County added a run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-4 lead into the seventh.
Emitt Dalton, Victory Payne and Donovan Taylor each had two hits to lead the Mustangs' offense.
The win improves the Mustangs' record to 14-13 heading into the district playoffs.
Following the game, seven senior members of the 2016 Mustangs were recognized for their contributions to the program. They included Emitt Dalton, Seth Shockley, Mason Hendrix, Brock Burnett, Donovan Taylor, Jarrett Sanny and Dagan Stites.
East Newton
Hanke tossed a five-hit shutout to lead the McDonald County Mustangs to a 6-0 win over East Newton on May 5 at East Newton High School.
Hanke struck out eight and walked just one.
His shutout was preserved when the Mustangs defense turned a triple play in the bottom of the sixth. East Newton put runners on first and second on a leadoff walk and a bunt. Hanke then enticed a ground ball to second baseman Boston Dowd, who threw to shortstop Dagan Stites for the first out. Stites threw to first baseman Jarrett Sanny for the second out, and Sanny then threw to catcher Emmit Dalton for the final out.
McDonald County took a 1-0 lead in the second on a single by Brock Burnett and two errors. The Mustangs added two more runs in the fifth on a double by Donovan Taylor and RBI singles by Sanny and Dalton.
The Mustangs broke the game open with three runs in the sixth. Walks to Hanke and Taylor and a single by Mason Hendrix loaded the bases for Sanny, who delivered with a double to drive in all three runners.
Sanny finished with two hits and four RBIs to lead the Mustang offense. Hendrix and Burnett added two hits each, while Dalton, Taylor and Stites had one each.
McDonald County improves to 13-13 overall and to 2-6 in the Big 8 Conference.
Carthage
On May 4 McDonald County won its second game of the conference season over the Carthage Tigers with an 8-3 win in Carthage.
Tyler Sellers went the distance for the Mustangs to get the win, allowing three runs, one earned, on just two hits. The junior right-hander walked three, hit two and struck out 10.
Carthage took a 2-0 lead in the third, scoring both runs after two were out on a hit, two walks and an error.
The Mustangs answered in the top of the fourth, scoring six runs, all coming with two outs. Hendrix led off the inning with a single and moved to second when Victor Payne was walked with one out. After a fly out to right, Stites singled in the Mustangs' first run before an error on Boston Dowd's ground ball scored another.
Emitt Dalton followed with a single, and Emanuel Baisch then drove in two runs with a single. McDonald County's final run of the inning scored on the Tigers' second error of the inning.
The Mustangs added two more two-out runs in the fifth. A walk to Hendrix and a single by Burnett set the stage for Seth Shockley's two-out, pinch-hit single that drove in both runs.
Carthage scored a run in the bottom of the inning on a hit by pitch, stolen base and a single, but Sellers retired the final seven of nine batters he faced to seal the win.
Baisch and Stites led the Mustangs with two hits each, while Dalton, Hanke, Hendrix, Burnett, Payne and Shockley each had one.
Sports on 05/12/2016