Mason Hendrix went the distance, allowing one run on four hits, to lead the McDonald County Mustangs to an 8-1 win Saturday over Haskell, Okla. in the third place game of the Mickey Mantle Wood Bat Classic in Commerce, Okla.
"Mason did a great job of throwing strikes and keeping the hitters off balance," said coach Nick Martin. "He kept his pitch count down and was able to go the distance."
Haskell scored its only run off Hendrix in the top of the first on a leadoff single and a two-out double. McDonald County took the lead in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs on three hits. Donovan Taylor led off the inning with a single and advanced to second when Jarrett Sanny was hit with a pitch. Emitt Dalton drove in both runners with a two-out single.
The Mustangs added two runs in the fourth on a walk to Victor Payne, Dalton's double and a two-run single by Jake Wilkie.
McDonald County broke the game open in the sixth, scoring four runs on hits by Jamie Hanke, Brock Burnett and Jake Wood, an error and a walk.
"Emitt continued to hit the ball well," Martin said of his junior catcher. "We finally got some timely hits. We have been stranding too many guys on base."
McDonald County opened the tournament April 10 with a 6-5 loss to Tulsa Sequoyah in extra innings.
Sequoyah jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring three unearned runs off Hanke in the third inning.
McDonald County cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth. Hanke walked and moved to second on a single by Burnett. An error and a wild pitch allowed both runners to score.
Sequoyah took a 5-2 lead into the top of the seventh, but McDonald County rallied to tie the game with three runs on five hits, including a two-out hit by Burnett to tie the game. Sanny, Payne, Dalton and Hanke each had a hit in the inning.
But Sequoyah scored a run in the bottom of the ninth for the win on three consecutive singles off reliever Lakota Rose.
"Jamie pitched a great game," Martin said. "We never played the best defense behind him, but the kids showed a lot of heart coming back. Brock Burnett got a big hit off a pretty good closer."
Hanke went eighth innings, allowing five run, one earned, on seven hits while striking out eight.
Burnett had two hits to lead the Mustangs while Dalton, Hanke, Jake Wood, Sanny and Payne each had one.
McDonald County bounced back later in the day to claim a 12-2 win over Quapaw. D.J. Madewell got the win, giving up five hits in four innings while striking out four.
McDonald County scored three runs in the first and second innings and five in the third to take control of the game early.
Dalton had four hits and Hanke had two hits and drove in five runs to lead the Mustangs. Dagan Stites added a pair of hits while Burnett, Wood, Taylor and Payne had one each.
Dalton and Hanke earned all-tournament honors while Mason Hendrix received the tournament's Tape Measure Award for the longest home run. Hendrix and Rose hit the only homers in the tournament while playing for the McDonald County junior varsity, which went 1-3 while competing in the small school division again Commerce, Diamond, Fairland, Okay, Wyandotte and the Neosho junior varsity.
McDonald County improves to 5-8 overall, 1-3 in the Big 8 Conference. The Mustangs were scheduled to travel to Jay, Okla. on April 13 before hosting Rogers Providence on April 14 and Wyandotte, Okla. on April 16 and traveling to Monett on April 17.
Aurora
Aurora scored two runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull out a 5-3 win April 7 at McDonald County High School.
Hendrix was the hard-luck loser, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits in six and a third innings. Madewell gave up two hits and walk to the three batters he faced in the seventh inning while Victor Payne got the final two outs, walking one.
McDonald County scored all three of its runs in the first inning. Wilkie and Hanke had one-out singles and Burnett walked to load the bases. Wood followed the a two-run double before Stites drove in the final run of the inning on a ground out to second.
Hendrix shut out the Houn' Dogs until the fourth when Aurora scored a run on an error, a walk and a hit. Aurora tied the game in the sixth when after retiring the first two batters on the inning, Hendrix gave up three consecutive singles for a run before an error allowed the tying run to score.
Hendrix retired the first batter he faced in the seventh, but was relieved by Madewell after issuing a one-out walk. Aurora then put together two hits and two walks to score a pair of runs for the win.
Wood and Dalton led the Mustangs nine-hit attack with two hits each. Taylor, Wilkie, Hanke, Burnett and Payne each had one.
Lamar
The Lamar Tigers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to claim a 1-0 decision April 6 at Lamar.
Hanke took the loss despite allowing only the one unearned run on seven hits in six and two thirds inning while striking out nine.
Lamar scored the game's only run on a two singles and a dropped fly ball with two out in the bottom of the seventh.
The Tigers' Tripp Tucker shut out the Mustangs on five hits, including two by Taylor. Wilkie, Hanke and Sanny had one hit each.
McDonald County's best chance to score came in the fifth when singles by Sanny and Taylor put runners on first and third with one out, but Tucker managed to escape the jam with a pair of ground outs.
Sports on 04/16/2015