The McDonald County 18U baseball team closed out its 2019 season with two losses and a tie at the Patriot Classic 18U Baseball Tournament held July 8-9 at the LaRoche Sports Complex in Fort Scott, Kan.
McDonald County opened pool play with a 12-3 loss to the Lawrence All-Stars on July 8.
Parker Toney took the loss, allowing eight runs in two innings. Toney was the victim of poor defense as McDonald County committed five errors in the two innings.
McDonald County took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on just one hit. Two hit batters, two walks, along with a single by Carlos Maturino and a wild pitch, accounted for the three runs.
But Lawrence tied the game in the bottom of the first, also scoring three runs on just one hit. Lawrence took the control of the game in the second with five runs before adding two runs each in the third and fourth innings. McDonald County was shut out over the final four innings.
Maturino's first-inning single was the lone hit for McDonald County. Maturino and Kirk Chandler from Joplin and Carson and Keaton Johnson from Carl Junction were picked up for the tournament due to several regular McDonald County players being away on vacation.
In the nightcap, McDonald County and Linn County played to a 6-6 tie in a game called after six innings due to the time limit.
Maturino went the distance for McDonald County, allowing six runs on seven hits while striking out 10.
After Linn County took a 2-0 lead in the first, McDonald County responded with four runs in the second for a 4-2 lead.
Leadoff walks to Brandon Armstrong and Ethan Lett were followed by a single from Keaton Johnson and a walk to Wyatt Jordan for McDonald County's first run. Maturino drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Kameron Hopkins doubled in a run and Carson Johnson singled for the final run of the inning.
Linn County scored three runs on three hits in the third to take a 5-4 lead. It added a run in the fifth on a pair of hits and a stolen base to take a 6-4 lead.
McDonald County answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 6-6. Singles by Hopkins and Carson Johnson, along with a pair of errors, led to the two runs.
Neither team threatened in the sixth before the game was called prior to the start of the seventh.
McDonald County lost its only game in bracket play, a 6-5 loss to Linn County, on July 9.
Rylee Boyd went the first five innings, allowing four runs while striking out nine. Armstrong took the loss, allowing two runs in the sixth.
Maturino led the offense with two hits.
417 Baseball
417 Baseball scored nine runs in the final three innings to claim an 11-3 win in nine innings on July 2 at MCHS.
Toney shut out 417 for the first three innings, striking out five without allowing a hit.
Ethan Francisco gave up single runs in the fourth and fifth innings on three hits.
Sampson Boles worked a scoreless sixth and got the first out of the seventh before Cross Dowd came in to face his brothers Destyn and Boston Dowd. Cross got Destyn on a strikeout but gave up a two-run single to Boston.
Boles' double and singles by Nevin Price and Francisco cut 417's lead to 4-1 after seven innings, but 417 scored four runs off Boles in the eighth and three of Jordan in the ninth.
Hopkins had an RBI double in the eighth and Armstrong added a RBI single in the ninth for McDonald County's final two runs.
Francisco finished with two hits to lead McDonald County, while Boles, Price, Hopkins, Armstrong and Bo Leach had one each.
Sports on 07/11/2019