Joplin trailed 1-0 heading into the last of the second inning before sending 14 batters to the plate on the way to a nine-run frame, all scoring with two outs, to highlight an 11-1 win in five innings over Harrisonville in non-conference action on an extremely windy Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“I didn’t think we came in with the best approach at the plate,” Joplin coach Brenden Schneider said. “We talked to them after the first inning and made some adjustments. You have to give the kids credit because as soon as they came back to the dugout, they were talking to each other about the adjustments. … Once we started getting guys on base, the energy was up and I think that was a big part of that second inning.”
Schneider, the team’s pitching coach, made his debut in the third-base coaching box for the Eagles’ matchup with the Wildcats after Joplin head coach Kyle Wolf was serving a one-game vacation after a disagreement with an umpire over the weekend in the Hollister/Willard Festival.
“I am sure there was a little bit of nervousness because you don’t want to let the big guy down,” Schneider said with a smile. “I am sure (Coach Wolf) was out there watching somewhere. … It’s one of those things where it’s just so much fun being out here and coaching the varsity guys. I am so used to coaching the JV guys and the speed at varsity is just so much faster. It’s a lot of fun being over there in the third-base box, but I’ll be glad to have Kyle back on Thursday.”
ON DECK
Joplin’s win snaps a two-game skid and gets the Eagles back to .500 with a 7-7 record. The Eagles host Branson (11-4) in Central Ozark Conference action on Thursday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“Branson is a good ballclub this year and they are playing great baseball against everybody,” Schneider said about the bounce-back win. “Ultimately, getting back on the right track (against Harrisonville) was something we desperately needed. It is a big conference game on Thursday for us.”
PITCHING
Brady Mails started and earned the complete-game win for Joplin after allowing one run on three hits, a walk and three strikeouts on 54 pitches in five innings.
“That first inning, he didn’t seem as sharp and was picking around the zone a little bit,” Schneider said. “When he came in, we talked about it a little bit. When he went back out there, he just pounded the zone. Good things happen when you pound the zone.”
Tucker Vassar started and took the loss after allowing nine runs on seven hits, two walks and three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Nathan Lyon allowed two runs on six hits, a walk and a strikeout in 2 1/3 relief innings.
GAME ACTION
Harrisonville took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second after Vassar drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an RBI groundout from Layne Curtis.
Joplin charged back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring nine runs on seven hits to take control of the contest.
“Ultimately, I think that really comes down to this group being a scrappy bunch,” Schneider said. “There’s no one in this lineup who can’t get on base for us, and there is nobody in this lineup that can’t find a way to spark some energy. Top to bottom, that is what really helps us out a lot.”
The Eagles tied the game up when Byler Reither singled down the right-field line on a 3-2 pitch with two outs to score Jackson Queen. The Eagles took the lead in the next at-bat when Bodee Carlson ripped a ball to the gap in left-center with the runner in motion on the pitch for an RBI triple for a 2-1 advantage.
“Those hits were huge,” Schneider said. “Even the hit-by-pitch (by Jackson), that is a guy getting up on the plate and finding a way to get on base. Then with two outs in the inning, (Byler) finding a way to turn the lineup over was huge and (Bodee’s) triple was a game changer for us.”
Carlson came home on a passed ball, and Kyler Stokes picked up an RBI with a triple to straight away center field before touching home on a single through the left side by Ethan Guilford to make the score 5-1. Guilford stole second and third, with the throw to third finding right field to allow Guilford to touch home. Queen drove home two more with a single up the middle before Reither wrapped the scoring with an RBI single on a popup to first.
Joplin capped the win when Guilford ripped a ball over the wall in left with a runner on for a two-run home run to end the game via run rule in the bottom of the fifth.
AT THE PLATE
Guilford homered on the way to three hits, three RBI and two runs scored, while Stokes had three hits, including a double and a triple, to go along with two runs scored and an RBI. Carlson tripled for one of his three hits and added an RBI and a run scored. Reither had two hits, drove in one and scored once.
