The visiting Grove (Oklahoma) Ridgerunners found multiple ways to generate offense and score runs and limited the host Seneca Indians to only a pair of runs with a combination of solid pitching and defense on their way to a 7-2 win on Monday at historic Joe Becker Stadium.
Grove scored two runs in the first, one in the third, three in the fifth, and one in the seventh, while Seneca managed one run in the fourth and one again in the fifth.
Hunter Wall’s RBI double in the fifth and Jayce Baser’s RBI double in the seventh highlighted the Ridgerunners’ offensive efforts, while Seneca’s Kade Johnson connected with a RBI double in the fifth.
Grove starter Hagen Hacker allowed both runs and finished with eight strikeouts during his five innings of work, and reliever Taylor Lee pitched two scoreless innings, with an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play turned by third baseman Baser and second baseman Nick Brown.
This defensive gem fed straight into Grove’s offense as Wall and Baser hit consecutive doubles to start the seventh.
“We’re a team that has to do a lot of different things to try and generate runs,” Grove coach Drew Osborne, a former Neosho and Grove assistant for Donny Pennington, said. “Today, we were successful with that. Hagen led off the game with a base hit. He’s done that five games in a row. Nick bunted him over. He’s done that five games in a row, so we were able to get the first inning scripted pretty much and after that, it was just guys coming through.
“We got walks in tough at-bats, getting hit by pitch down in the count, and sac flies. Dayton’s hit three or four sac flies in the last couple games as well. Our goal right now is to manufacture runs. Get guys on, move them over, and score them.”
Grove catcher Dayton Keller picked up an RBI with sacrifice flies in the first and third.
Pitching, defense, and timely hitting, as well as aggressive but smart baserunning, are fundamental elements to winning baseball games, and the Ridgerunners had them Monday.
“Hagen did a great job for us,” Osborne said. “He got a spot start today. Typically, he throws in relief for us as a closer type of guy, but we played five games last week and we have six games this week, so we needed a good start from him. He was in the zone early, he got ahead early, and he made hitters hit his pitches. Then, Taylor came in and did a great job in relief. We were pleased to see that because it sets us up for the rest of the week as far as pitching.
“Defense is something that we strive to be good at every day. We try to put guys in positions to be successful anywhere on the field defensively. We have a couple guys off the field with injuries, but you couldn’t tell because those other guys are ready to come in and make big plays. We’re proud of those guys.”
Grove, who earned wins against Missouri schools Webb City (6-4) and Willard (7-6) earlier this season, improved to 12-2 overall entering Tuesday’s doubleheader against Tulsa Nathan Hale.
Meanwhile, the Indians stranded two runners in the first, one in the third, three in the fourth, one in the fifth, and had a potential rally eliminated with a double play in the sixth.
Johnson and Colton Curtis hit consecutive singles in the first, Cade Galindo was denied a single in the second by Grove shortstop Corbin Houseman on a running stop and strike to first, Curtis and Hagen Ginger hit back-to-back singles to start the third and Ginger scored Seneca’s first run, and Kaden Clouse singled in the sixth.
The Indians made a pair of outstanding defensive plays in the fourth: Curtis caught a line drive up the middle and doubled up a Grove runner at second, then Clouse made a diving catch in left with two outs and the bases loaded with Ridgerunners.
Grove would not be denied, though, in the fifth.
“If we make a couple pitches, if we make a couple plays, it’s a 3-2 game right there,” Seneca coach Chris Yust said. “We’re right in it, and you can’t give a good team leadoff walks and those extra outs, they’ll take advantage of it every day. We struck out too many times with runners in scoring position. Overall, we played well, but there’s a couple plays that we’d like to get back and get in some extra at-bats and extra swings. Definitely, we hope to get better and to learn from it.”
Seneca dropped to 5-5 on the season and the Indians return to action Tuesday with a game against Carthage (1-7 overall) at Wendell Redden Stadium inside the Joplin Athletic Complex.
The Indians and the Tigers are familiar foes after years of playing each other in Carthage’s Bill O’Dell Varsity Tournament. They have played 12 times since 2010, for example.
