Crossett staves off Junction City 11-9

JUNCTION CITY - A day after scoring six runs in the seventh to come from behind to top Monticello, Junction City fell just short of repeating the feat, as Crossett held off the Dragons 11-9 in a slugfest in Class 3A-4A District 12 play on Tuesday.

The Dragons (11-6, 3-1) trailed 11-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, but the last three outs proved to be rather difficult for the Eagles (11-5, 5-0) to get.

Bryce Ware led off with a single to left and went to second on Clay Jolley’s ground out to third. A walk to Keelan Hodge put runners at first and second, and Brock McGoogan followed with an RBI single to left to make it 11-5.

Charles Hoof, who had a terrific performance by going 4-for-4 with four RBIs, drilled a double to left-center that scored Hodge to pull the Dragons within 11-6.

Hoof’s fourth hit of the day brought an end to Crossett starter Paul Edgar’s stay on the mound, and Cody Kelley was brought in to try and finish off the Dragons.

However, Jack Smith gave the right-hander a rude welcoming by lacing his first pitch into right field for a base hit that scored McGoogan to slice the lead to 11-7.

With runners at the corners, Tanner McLelland drove in a run by hitting into a force play to make it a threerun game.

Back-to-back walks to Ty Disotell and Cody Lee kept the rally alive, loading the bases for Ware.

A junior, Ware was hit by a pitch in his second trip to the plate in the seventh to force in a run and make it 11-9.

With the tying run at second and the potential winning run at first, it seemed history was on the verge of repeating itself, but Kelley got Jolley hit into a game-ending force play with shortstop Dakota Fitch just beating Ware in a race to second base.

“We just dug too big of a hole, but we did a good job of coming back and hitting the baseball,” said Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett. “The good part was that we kept battling and kept playing until the last pitch. We got four or five hits in the seventh and had the tying run on second with the bases loaded.”

One area where the Dragons struggled was on defense.

Three errors led to the Eagles scoring two runs in the first, and a two-out error in the third when the ball was dropped on an attempted tag on a comebacker to the mound allowed the Eagles to take a 4-3 lead.

“The first four they got, they never got the ball out of the infield,” Hammett said. “We didn’t make routine plays, and we’ve had trouble this year just catching it and making a good throw. We gave them too many outs in the first inning. We gave them two runs and the ball never left the infield. In the third inning, they got two when the ball popped out of the glove with two outs, and I know that’s baseball, but we’ve got to play better in the field. The pitching was good enough for us today.”

After the rocky start, the Dragons took their lone lead of the day by answering with three runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run single by Hoof and an RBI single by Smith.

Hoof knotted the game at 4-all in the third with an RBI double, but the Eagles took control of the game with a five-run fifth.

Deuce Hall led off the frame with a base hit to center and Trent Pullin followed with a bloop single to right to put runners at first and second.

A walk to Carson Gilbert loaded the bases, which prompted a pitching change.

Taking over after McGoogan went four-plus innings as the Dragons’ starter, Ware was summoned to try and halt the Eagles’ rally, but Kersh Hall worked the right-hander for a walk to force in the go-ahead run.

With the infield in, Ware got Landon Golden to hit a grounder to shortstop that resulted in Pullin being thrown out at the plate.

With the bases reloaded and one out, Kelley delivered a huge hit, as he rifled a two-run single to right-center past a drawn-in infield to push the lead to 7-4.

Kelley then stole second to put runners at second and third, and Edgar helped his own cause by lacing a two-run single to left to push the lead to 9-4.

The Eagles tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, which loomed large with the Dragons’ rally in the bottom of the seventh.

The Eagles finished with 11 hits with Deuce Hall going 3-for-4, including an RBI single in the seventh. Kersh Hall went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, the last of which came on an RBI single in the sixth. Pullin went 2-for-5 with an RBI in the win.

In addition to Hoof, Ware went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Smith was also 2-for-4, finishing with two RBIs for the Dragons, who had 12 hits.

Edgar picked up the win, lasting 6 1/3 innings. He allowed 11 hits and eight runs while issuing two walks with one strikeout.

McGoogan suffered the loss, allowing six runs and five hits in four-plus innings of work. He walked one and struck out four.

Junction City will be back in action when they host Drew Central on Thursday.

WARREN 10, SMACKOVER 2

WARREN - The Lumberjacks made the most of their seven hits Tuesday, beating the Buckaroos in a game that was stopped with two outs in the bottom of the fifth by rain. Smackover dropped to 5-11 on the season.

The Bucks left seven runners on base and committed 13 errors in the field.

Smackover scored two in the first. Tucker Evans singled and Josh Saulsbury walked. With one out, Nick Impson stroked a two-run double.

Cody Smith, Baylor Brumley, Alex Burris and Noah Wilson had the rest of Smackover’s six hits.

Brumley started on the mound and pitched three innings. He gave up four unearned runs on three hits, four walks and one hit batter. Saulsbury pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits with a walk and a hit batter. Impson pitched one inning, surrendering three unearned runs on one hit and one walk.