Willard hung crooked numbers up on the scoreboard in the middle innings to fuel a 9-1 win over Joplin in Central Ozark Conference play on Thursday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
After both teams went scoreless through the first pair of innings, Willard (18-8, 6-1 COC) struck for three runs in the top of the third to take control. After Joplin (6-13, 2-4 COC) answered in the bottom half of the inning with a single tally to trim the lead to two, the Tigers, who totaled 12 hits in the win, added three more unanswered runs in the fourth and added a two spot in the fifth for an 8-1 lead en route to the win.
“They’re a good baseball team and have won a lot of games over the last however many years for a reason,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “They do things well. I thought we did some good things over the course of the game, we just couldn’t stack them together.”
Willard took the lead in the top of the third inning after plating three runs to break a scoreless tie. Landon Moore led the inning off with a single before coming around to score later in the frame on an RBI single by Cooper Wilken with one out. The Tigers pushed the advantage to 3-0 when Kaelin Adams doubled to left-center field with two outs and runners on second and third to plate both runners.
Joplin cut the lead to two in the next half inning when Brady Mails singled to center with two outs and a runner on second, with the runner scoring on a fielding error by Willard to make the score 3-1.
The Tigers’ offensive production continued in the fourth, touching home three more times to build a 6-1 lead. Klayton Kiser singled to center with runners on the corners to drive in the first run of the inning. Drew Quinlan followed with a sharp single through the middle of the infield to push two more runs across for a five-run cushion.
Willard added two more runs in the fifth on an RBI single from Moore before a second run came around to score on an error. The Tigers wrapped their scoring with an inside-the-park home run by Kyle Beeman in the top of the seventh inning.
Cooper Wilken earned the win after allowing one unearned run on two hits and six strikeouts in five innings.
“We didn’t get enough base runners,” Wolf said. “Their kid did a good job of pounding the zone with his fastball early in the count to get ahead of us, and then we had to chase a little bit. I thought we put some balls in play and hit some balls hard, just right at people.
Kutler Schwarting took the loss after allowing six runs, four earned, on 10 hits, two walks and two strikeouts in four innings. Eli Sotlar allowed three runs, two earned, on two hits, three walks and a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings.
“Kutler did a good job of trying to keep them off balance,” Wolf said. “We got some weak contacts—groundouts and pop ups. …
Moore had three hits, scored twice and drove in one, while Wilken had three hits, drove in one and scored once to lead Willard at the plate. Kiser and Beeman had two hits each, with Beeman scoring three times and drove in one and Kiser scoring once and picking up an RBI.
Mails had two hits and Sotlar, who doubled, had two hits for Joplin’s total in the game. Sotlar also scored a run.
Joplin hosts Smithville at 11 a.m. and Nevada at 3 p.m. for Senior Day on Saturday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
