Joplin went to work early with the bats in the form of two-out magic and closed the regular season with a 12-2 win in six innings over Lamar on Wednesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
The Eagles opened with two runs in the first before a five-run second frame with two outs put Joplin firmly in control. Joplin, which scaroed 10 of their 12 runs with two outs, added two more runs with two outs in the third before Lamar got on the board with two runs in the fifth. The scoring continued for the Eagles with a run in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth to end the game early.
“It’s a game that you feel good about because you did a lot of good things throughout the course of it,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “We have been looking for that big two-out hit all year. To see us get three or four of them in fifth to put up that crooked number was good to see. … It was something we started to see in Kansas City this past Saturday. … You’re hoping maybe there is some momentum being built as we head into the district tournament.”
Joplin closes the regular season with a 9-19 record and is in action next in the Class 6 District 6 tournament at Republic High School on Tuesday.
“I want to see us go compete and play the game hard,” Wolf said. “It’s cliche, but it’s true. Everyone is 0-0. We should take a deep breath. We have been carrying a lot of weight with some things this year. It’s a moment where we have a chance to unload that and just go play baseball.”
Lamar closes the season with a 12-12 record and hosts the Class 3 District 11 tournament as the top seed. The Tigers take on the winner of fourth-seeded Sarcoxie and fifth-seeded Diamond at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Eli Sotlar, who didn’t surrender a hit until the fifth inning, earned the win for Joplin after allowing two runs, one earned, on one hit, three walks and four strikeouts in five innings of work.
“When Eli is consistently in the zone, Eli is difficult to hit,” Wolf said. “He has proven that throughout the course of the year. For the most part today, he competed in the zone and the big thing was he was able to throw his fastball for strikes. When he does that, it allows his offspeed stuff to be better. I thought he did a nice job today for us.”
Tate Ansley took the loss after allowing nine runs on eight hits, two walks and two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.
Joplin’s offense started early, collecting three hits in the first inning to push across a pair of runs. Byler Reither doubled to shallow left with one out before Layten Copher ripped a ball to the gap in left-center to score Reither for a 1-0 advantage. Two batters later, Jackson Queen went opposite field for a sharp single to plate Copher and give the Eagles a 2-0 advantage.
Joplin added insurance in the second inning with a two-out rally. After the first two batters went down in order, Caden Shoemaker was hit by a pitch before moving to third on a hit-and-run single by Brady Mails. Reither drove a run in with a fielder’s choice before Sotlar helped himself with a bases-loaded, three-run double two batters later to push the lead to 6-0. The Eagles pushed the lead to 7-0 following an RBI single to right by Queen in the next at-bat.
“I told them that kind of crushes the other team,” Wolf said of the barrage with two outs. “They feel like they’re so close to getting out of that inning and you just keep adding on. That’s why we say two-out hits win games. Good job overall at the plate by those guys.”
Copher came up clutch again with a two-run triple to right-center field with two outs to push the lead to 9-0 in the third inning.
Lamar got on the board when a run scored on a wild pitch before Eli Hull picked up an RBI on a groundout.
Joplin got a tally back in the bottom half of the inning with another two-out run on an RBI single to right field from Reither before putting the game away in the sixth with two more runs, including one last lightning strike—a two-out RBI single from Reither to end the game in walk-off fashion.
Reither finished the day with four hits, including a double, three RBI and three runs scored to lead Joplin at the plate. Queen had three hits, two RBI and scored a run. Copher doubled and tripled on the way to three RBI and two runs scored. Sotlar also doubled and tallied three RBI and scored a run.
