The McDonald County 18U baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Nevada, 9-8, on June 2 for fifth place in the Carl Junction 18U Baseball Tournament at Carl Junction High School.
The teams entered the seventh inning tied at 7-7. A tiebreaker of starting the inning with a runner on second base was in effect when Nevada scored a run on a fielder's choice and a single in the top of the seventh.
Cole Martin led off the bottom half of the inning with a bunt single to put runners on first and third. Martin went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nevin Price before Kameron Hopkins tied the game with a single and Sampson Boles followed with a walk-off RBI single.
Nevada took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first off of Ethan Francisco on two walks and three hits.
McDonald County answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Martin singled to lead off the inning before Hopkins singled to put runners on first and third. With two out, Junior Eliam hit a two-run double to make the score 4-2.
Nevada added single runs in the second and third before McDonald County tied the game in the third with three runs. Hopkins and Boles singled to put runners on first and third with one out. Hopkins scored on a wild pitch before Eliam drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Eliam came around to score the tying run on a stolen base and two wild pitches.
Nevada took a 7-6 lead in the fourth, but McDonald County answered with a run on doubles by Martin and Boles in the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.
Price got the win on the mound, allowing just two runs in four and two-thirds inning of relief. Martin, Hopkins and Boles had three hits each to lead McDonald County, while Eliam and Wyatt Jordan had one each.
Carthage
Carthage scored two runs in the sixth inning to pull out a 6-5 win on June 2, to wrap up pool play in the tournament.
McDonald County scored four runs in the first inning, but could only muster one more run over the final six innings.
Price doubled and Hopkins walked before Eliam drove in the first two runs of the game with a double. Boles singled in a run, while a throwing error gave McDonald County its fourth run of the inning.
Carthage cut the lead to 4-3 with three runs in the third off of Parker Toney and then tied the game in the fourth.
Boles took over on the mound in the fifth, but a hit-by-pitch and two singles led to two runs in the sixth that gave Carthage a 6-4 lead.
McDonald County cut the lead to 6-5 in the sixth on singles by Martin and Hopkins but stranded the tying run at second base in the seventh.
Price had two hits, while Martin, Hopkins, Eliam and Boles had one each to lead the McDonald County offense.
Hillcrest
Hillcrest claimed a 5-4 win on June 1, in McDonald County's tournament opener.
Rylee Boyd took the loss, allowing four runs in four innings.
McDonald County trailed 5-2 entering the seventh before rallying for two runs, only to come up one run short.
Boles and Price led off the inning with singles before scoring on Ethan Francisco's single and a wild pitch.
Boles, Price and Hopkins led McDonald County with two hits each, while Omar Manuel and Francisco had one each.
417 Baseball
McDonald County opened the summer season with a 12-4 loss to 417 baseball on May 28, at MCHS.
Toney took the loss, though allowing only two runs in three innings. Both runs came on a home run by recent MCHS graduate Joe Brown, who is prepping for college at North Arkansas College with 417.
Brown finished with four hits in five at-bats in the nine-inning game.
Francisco allowed five runs in two innings of relief before Boles allowed one in two innings and Price gave up three in the eighth and Hopkins one in the ninth.
Martin, Hopkins, Jordan and Francisco had one hit each to lead McDonald County at the plate.
McDonald County, 1-3 for the season, hosted Seneca on June 5 and then travels to Branson for the Branson 18U Baseball Tournament on June 6-8.
Sports on 06/06/2019