Lions stay hot to claim tourney championship
MAGNET COVE — Haskell Harmony Grove had one more hit than Jessieville Saturday night, but the Lions made the most of their opportunities.
Aided by three Cardinal errors, Jessieville (54) scored seven runs on six hits over the last three innings, shaking off an early 3-0 deficit for a 10-6 win in the Magnet Cove spring break tournament championship.
“I think it was just about us keeping the pressure on them,” Jessieville coach Ryan O’Neal said. “We forced them to make some errors and guys did a great job of getting on base either by a walk or hit by pitch in huge situations.
“On top of that, we had sac flies and put the ball in play when we had to have them. We had a lot of guys really step up today with the bat.”
Boasting a deep lineup of its own that scores more than seven runs per game, Harmony Grove
(6-10) gained an early jump on Jessieville starter Noah Eskew in the top of the first inning.
Braden Carman and Hunter Hilson each singled and later scored on a single by Sean Small. After a walk by Jared Toler, Shane Small delivered an RBI double to give the Cardinals a quick 3-0 lead.
Eskew limited the damage by retiring two of the next three batters as Harmony Grove stranded the bases loaded to end the frame.
After going down in order in the bottom of the first, the Lions bounced back in the second. With the inning extended by a Harmony Grove error, Jessieville plated three runs on just one base hit, Dalton McClard and Bryan Morgan each with a sacrifice fly.
“Having a start like that can definitely amp you up and get you going,” said O’Neal. “It took Noah a little bit to get rolling, but the defense backed him up, got him out of it and we were able to get those runs right back.”
Eskew breezed through the second and third frames, limiting the Cardinals to just one hit, but a pair of defensive lapses allowed Harmony Grove to regain the lead in the top of the fourth.
With two Jessieville errors in the outfield, Carman came all the way around to score on a single and Hilson followed with an RBI double to give the Cardinals a 5-3 advantage.
The momentum was short-lived as Harmony Grove was plagued by errors of its own in the bottom of the inning. Aaron Ford and Adam Saveall each had an RBI single and the Lions rode three Cardinal errors to a five-run frame, regaining the lead at 8-5 at the end of the fourth.
“This group has guys that have been there and done that,” O’Neal said. “The seniors have done a great job of taking charge and getting the rest of the guys going. Executing and putting pressure on other teams is something we wanted to do this year.
“With hit and runs, bunting the ball, steals and that type of stuff, I think it just energizes our guys a little bit.”
Continuing to put the shaky first inning behind him, Eskew allowed one run on one hit over the fifth and sixth frames, finishing his day with four earned runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings pitched.
“He threw a great game and went a lot deeper than I thought he would,” said O’Neal.
Clinging to an 8-5 lead, Jessieville flashed its power to add some insurance in the bottom of the sixth. Saveall cleared the left field wall with a solo home run, and Morgan followed with a double off the top of the fence to plate an additional run as the Lions pushed their lead to 10-6 entering the final inning.
For the second time in as many days, Ford pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the win for Jessieville. Michael Vangilder finished with two singles in four at-bats for the Lions, while Ford singled, walked twice and stole two bases in four plate appearances.
Saveall had two hits in four at-bats, finishing with eight hits in three games during the tournament.
“He’s always cool and he just goes up there and has fun,” O’Neal said. “With a kid that has that mentality, it makes it really easy for him to continue on a tear like that.”
Carman had two singles and one double in the leadoff spot for the Cardinals.
Bouncing back from a four-game losing streak to win three games in three days, O’Neal believes the Lions can use their spring break performance to build confidence for the remainder of the season.
“It just shows them that we’ve got the depth in our pitching when we play solid behind those guys,” he said. “We’ve always had great bats. That’s something (former) coach (Jamie) Saveall has done a great job of for 20 years here. We’re just carrying that on and getting the pitching and defense to go with it.”
Jessieville resumes 3A/4A-8 conference play Monday at Centerpoint (5-4).