Just as quickly as McDonald County appeared to have turned a win into a loss, the Mustangs turned the apparent loss into a win in their 8-7 win over Francis Howell High School on April 13 at Joplin High School.
McDonald County led 6-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, only to see Francis Howell score six runs to take a 7-6 lead.
But in the top of the seventh, with two out and runners on second and third, freshman Levi Helm stroked a 1-0 pitch to the left centerfield gap to drive in both runners and put McDonald County back on top 8-7.
In the bottom half of the inning, Joe Brown, in his first mound appearance of the season, allowed a leadoff single before retiring the next three batters to preserve the win.
"We went from not a very good game (10-1 loss to Joplin in the first game of the doubleheader) to a really good game," said coach Kevin Burgi. "We showed a lot of resilience and toughness. I couldn't be more proud of everyone here -- just an outstanding performance by the kids."
Francis Howell took a 1-0 lead in the second off Helm on a hit-by-pitch and two bunt hits.
McDonald County answered in the third with four runs on only one hit, Cole Martin's bunt hit. But four walks and two errors gave the Mustangs a 4-1 lead.
McDonald County added a pair of runs in the fifth. Boston Dowd and Oakley Roessler hit back-to-back triples to open the inning. Dowd scored on a wild throw to third while Roessler came home on a passed ball.
Helm was cruising alone until the sixth, allowing just the one run on three hits before Francis Howell erupted for six runs off Helm and two relievers.
Carson Subbert led off the Vikings' sixth with a single but was erased on a double play, leaving the bases empty with two out.
But a single, two walks, a hit batter and another walk plated two runs and ended Helm's day. Jordan Platter gave up consecutive singles that scored four runs and gave Francis Howell a 7-6 lead before Brown got the final out of the inning.
But the Mustangs answered with a rally of their own. Brown walked and Dowd singled to put runners on first and second with no out. After a strikeout and a pop out, Helm, who re-entered the game to hit, crushed a ball deep to the gap where Chris Dansberry and Dwayne Daggs collided while trying to run down the smash, allowing the tying and eventual winning run to score.
"Levi's pitch count ran up and he got a little tired," Burgi said. "But with that being said, he responded in the seventh with a massive hit in a massive situation. A great way to end a long week (five games in five days), but nobody is going to feel sorrow for us. You just have to come out and do your job. The one thing I can say is that we had three guys do a great job coming in and throwing strikes in relief today -- Platter and Brown in the Francis Howell game and Parker Toney in the Joplin game. You go back and look at the first game and, if Parker Toney doesn't eat up some innings in that game, we aren't in the position to win the second game."
Dowd finished with two hits to lead the offense, while Platter, Martin, Roessler and Helm had one each.
Joplin
The Eagles scored seven runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-1 in the opener.
Rylee Boyd took the loss, allowing seven runs on five hits in three and two-thirds innings. Toney worked the final two and a third innings, allowing three runs on three hits.
McDonald County scored its only run in the fourth on walks to Dowd and Roessler, two stolen bases and a wild pitch.
Joplin's Grant Jones held McDonald County to three hits, singles by Martin, Dowd and Josh Parsons.
Monett
Monett handed McDonald County a 5-0 loss on April 9 at MCHS.
Dowd took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings. Helm gave up two runs on three hits in one inning of relief.
University of Arkansas signee Corey Spain held McDonald County to four hits, two singles by Brown and one each by Omar Manuel and Izak Johnson.
Lamar
McDonald County scored five runs in the final two innings, including two in the bottom of the seventh, to overcome a 5-1 deficit to beat Lamar 6-5 on April 11 at MCHS.
The Mustangs trailed 5-4 with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the seventh, before scoring two runs on a hit batter, an error, a walk and Kameron Hopkins' walk-off single.
Platter started the rally by drawing a walk off of reliever Wyatt Hull, who failed to retire a batter after entering with two out. Platter scored the tying run when Brown's fly ball to right field was misplayed for a three-base error. Dowd was intentionally walked, setting the stage for Hopkins' game-winning hit to right.
Brown worked the first six innings, allowing five runs on just three hits while walking two and striking out seven.
Boyd got the win, working a perfect seventh inning, striking out one.
Hopkins finished with two hits and two RBIs and Manuel had two hits and one RBI to lead the offense. Brown, Dowd and Johnson added one hit each.
Bentonville West
Bentonville's Hunter Mayes, Carter Bourg and Kendall Thornton combined to allow just one hit in Bentonville West's 16-1 win on April 12 at MCHS.
Helm took the loss, allowing three runs on four hits in an inning and two-thirds. Roessler, Sampson Boles, Koby McAlister and Hopkins all worked in relief.
Brown's single in the first was the Mustangs' only hit.
McDonald County is now 6-9 for the season heading into its April 16 game at East Newton. The Mustangs are at Cassville on April 18 and at Rogers Heritage on April 19.
Sports on 04/18/2019