NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats won their home tournament in thrilling fashion with a 4-3 win in nine innings over defending champion Strafford on Saturday in the second edition of the Roy B. Shaver Classic.
Wyatt Shadwick hit a single to center, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored the winning run on pinch hitter Kael Smith’s single to center.
River Brill earned the win in relief with three scoreless innings after he surrendered two runs in the sixth for a 3-2 Neosho deficit.
The Wildcats scored their first three runs with one each in the fourth through sixth, on a Colton Southern sacrifice fly in the fourth, an Austin Rodriguez RBI single in the fifth, and a Brill RBI single in the sixth.
The Wildcats earned four wins in the tournament — outscoring their opponents 39-5 and defeating Reeds Spring 11-1 and Hillcrest 10-0 on Wednesday and Diamond 14-1 on Saturday — and finished 5-1 overall during their first week of play.
Strafford defeated Neosho 8-5 in 12 innings for the inaugural Shaver Classic title last year.
For a time, it almost looked as if Neosho and Strafford could match that length of game.
“A great week,” Neosho coach Bo Helsel said. “Five wins against good competition. Strafford’s a great team, well-coached, they play hard, and they do things the right way, but we do too, and we were able to execute pitches late in the game. We were able to finally get that one hit that we needed to get that last run in, and that’s this team this year so I’m excited about them.”
The Wildcats left at least one runner behind in the first eight innings, including the bases loaded in the fourth and the eighth.
“We had a few innings there where we just couldn’t get one across,” Helsel said. “That’s been our M.O this year. We’ve had the bases loaded a lot and haven’t been getting that big hit. We keep grinding, though, and this team doesn’t give up. The dugout was great all day.
“We were able to get that hit with Shadwick in the last inning, then the passed ball to get him to second, and then with two outs, Kael Smith hadn’t had an at-bat all day. He’s pitched, he’s had some back problems so I’ve tried to keep him rested, but he’s a senior and I trust him more than anybody else with the bat. He came in with a big hit there at the end.”
Smith and Brill contributed to a Neosho pitching staff that allowed five runs over four games in the Shaver Classic.
“Kael started that game (Saturday),” Helsel said. “Like I said, he’s had some back stuff going on, but I know he’s going to give me four, five, sometimes maybe even six good innings. He did. Still, sometimes he walks too many guys, but River, man, that kid, he’s been playing varsity since he was a freshman. He’s not had a lot of time on the mound, but he’s one of our harder throwers and I trust him. He gave up the two-run double (in the sixth), but he put up three zeros in a row and that’s what I expect. He deserves all the credit for that win.”
The Wildcats mobbed Smith around first base after his game-winning hit.
“Second year we’ve had it and last year we lost in extra innings to Strafford,” Helsel said. “Today, we beat them in extra innings. It’s exciting. When I got this job, I wanted to do something for the community and start a home tournament with our old superintendent’s name plastered all over it. It’s good to get that first tournament championship, and I hope that in the future we can continue to do this thing and get good solid competition in here.”
In the 14-1 win in five innings earlier Saturday against Diamond, Hudson Williams allowed no earned runs in his five innings of time on the mound, Rodriguez had two hits with a triple and Eli Zar two hits with a pair of RBI, and Brill, Quenton Hughes, Shadwick, and Southern each had a hit.
Neosho (5-1) returns home Tuesday for a game against St. Mary’s Colgan (Kansas).
Purdy defeated Diamond 11-1 for third place in the game immediately before Neosho and Strafford battled into extra innings in the championship game for the second year in a row.
Roy B. Shaver Classic
Saturday’s results
(At Marion Sports Complex, Neosho)
Neosho 14, Diamond 1
Strafford 10, Purdy 9
Purdy 11, Diamond 1
Neosho 4, Strafford 3 (9 inn.)
(At Aurora High School)
Aurora 14, Carthage 4
Aurora 10, Hillcrest 7
Hillcrest 4, Reeds Spring 3
Carter Fenske receives the throw at first base against Strafford on Saturday in Neosho. All photos by Israel Perez.
