Izak Johnson pitched a five-inning no-hitter and the offense scored early and often to lead McDonald County to an 11-0 win on March 16 over Westside High School of Jonesboro, Ark., in the fifth-place game of the Ozark Baseball Classic in Harrison, Ark.
"One of the best things about Izak is that he is normally a strike thrower," said coach Kevin Burgi. "But normally where he is very good throwing first-pitch strikes, he wasn't doing that today; but he was managing to come back and get back ahead. That was probably the best I have seen him throw after the first pitch."
McDonald County scored three runs in the second and then broke the game open with an eight-run inning in the third.
Omar Manuel walked and scored on a triple by Oakley Roessler to put the Mustangs on the scoreboard in the second. Cole Martin drove in Roessler with a ground out before Kammeron Hopkins, Levi Helm and Boston Dowd singled for the final run of the inning.
In the third, Joe Brown led off the inning with a double to start the Mustangs' eight-run uprising. With one out, Roessler and Martin singled before walks to Micah Burkholder and Hopkins led to two runs. Helm singled in two runs before an error, two walks and a single by Rosseler led to four more runs.
Johnson finished by walking two and striking out five.
Roessler and Helm had three hits each to lead McDonald County at the plate. Dowd, Brown, Martin, Hopkins and Koby McAlister added one hit each.
"Obviously the bats were stagnant last night, but we put some hits together in today's two games," Burgi said. "I think there is still some better offense to be played. We are missing taking some bases that can be taken; but just from the standpoint of our swings, today was much better."
McDonald County improved to 2-1 heading into its home opener on March 22 when the Mustangs face Neosho at MCHS. Game time is 5 p.m.
Grove
Grove scored an unearned run in the second and third innings and then added three more runs in the sixth to claim a 5-1 win on March 15 in the tournament opener.
Dowd took the loss despite not allowing an earned run in four and two-thirds innings. Helm allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning of relief before Jackson Behm got the final two outs.
"Boston Dowd did a really good job on the mound," Burgi said. "Probably the most impressive thing about his job was he didn't really have his breaking ball going. He was working low in the zone and getting the ball by some guys. But with that being said, we have to be able to make the routine play. When you look at why we lost the game, it is because we didn't dominate the routine play. You can win games not hitting, but you can't win games not defending."
Grove took a 1-0 lead in the second on an error, a bunt and two walks.
McDonald County tied the game in the top of the third. Jordan Platter walked and went to third on Brown's single before scoring on an error.
But Grove took the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning on a double and a two-out error.
Grove scored three insurance runs in the sixth on four singles, a walk and a hit batter.
Brown finished with two singles for the Mustangs' only two hits.
Pleasant Hill
McDonald County overcame an early 7-1 deficit to beat Pleasant Hill 9-8 on March 16 in the consolation bracket.
Pleasant Hill used the long ball to score six of its seven runs in the first two innings before Helm relieved Roessler with two and two-thirds innings of relief. The freshman allowed only an unearned run on two hits before Behm retired the only two batters he faced for the save.
Pleasant Hill took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, two of the runs coming on a home run by Garrett Canaan.
McDonald County cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning on an error and an RBI single by Brown.
A grand slam by Wyatt Perkins gave Pleasant Hill a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
But the Mustangs answered with six two-out runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 7-7.
Dowd reached on an error with two outs to start the rally before Platter walked and Brown singled for the first run. Manuel followed with a double to drive in two runs before a walk, an error and a single by Burkholder accounted for the final three runs.
McDonald County took an 8-7 lead in the fourth on a walk, a stolen base, a bunt hit and a sacrifice fly by Burkholder.
Pleasant Hill tied the game in the top of the fifth on two walks, a hit batter and an error before McDonald County scored the winning run in the bottom half of the inning.
Platter singled and stole second with one out to get the Mustangs in position for the win. With two out, Manuel was walked intentionally before Roessler walked to load the bases. Martin drove in the winning run when he walked on four pitches.
"We did a lot of little things well to score some runs," Burgi said. "We are still looking for our offensive identity, but our kids are starting to see what kind of offensive team we have to be."
Brown had two of the Mustangs' eight hits, while Platter, Manuel, Roessler, Martin, Burkholder and Sampson Boles had one each.
Sports on 03/21/2019