Joplin’s Byler Reither and Carthage’s Nolan Brown battled in a pitcher’s duel on the bump with a pair of two-out RBI knocks by the Eagles’ offense being the difference in a 3-1 win in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, it was good pitching and timely hits,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “Those things are usually a good recipe to have success in a baseball game.”
Reither earned the win on the mound after allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings, scattering four hits, walking one and striking out 10. Brecken Green made his varsity debut by finishing off the save opportunity in the top of the seventh with a one-pitch popup to finish the win.
“Byler has been what Byler has been for a handful of games now,” Wolf said. “He is competing in the zone and using good stuff. He’s getting weak contact when they do make contact. He is hard to barrel up and I think you saw that today. … Brecken Green comes in there as a freshman in his first varsity experience and throws one pitch to get the save. You have to be excited about that as well.”
Brown took the tough-luck loss after allowing three runs on six hits and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
“Nolan has been a little inconsistent with his stuff (this season) but today in the bullpen he said, ‘Coach, I feel good.’ He just attacked the zone,” Carthage coach Luke Bordewick said. “We told him we wanted to get him through three (innings) in 60 pitches because we have a tournament this weekend and he got through 5 2/3 in 60 pitches. Joplin is an aggressive bunch, we knew that coming in, and he kept them off balanced with early (offspeed pitches for strikes). I can’t say enough good things. He just needs to continue to fill up the zone.”
Joplin (6-12, 2-3 COC) got on the board with a pair of extra-base hits in the second inning to take the initial lead. Layten Copher started the inning with an opposite field double over the head of the left fielder before Eli Sotlar delivered a two-out, go-ahead RBI double down the third-base line for a 1-0 advantage.
Carthage (3-18, 0-5 COC) rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning when Clay Kinder led off with a double past first base before ultimately coming around to score on an RBI groundout from Brady Carlton with one out to tie the game at 1s.
“He had a good day in batting practice yesterday and really focused on hitting the ball to the opposite field,” Bordewick said of Kinder’s day at the plate. “It was nice to see his first AB staying through a ball to the opposite-field gap. He has been stroking it for us and is coming around. Hopefully, he can continue to carry that on because he is a catalyst for our offense.”
The Eagles’ offense again went to work with two outs in the last of the fifth. Jackson Queen started things with a leadoff single before a one-out single from Brock Waghorn. With two outs and runners on second and third, Brady Mails put Joplin back in front for good with a two-run single to left field for a 3-1 lead.
“Brady came up huge right there, being able to get a ball into left field,” Wolf said. “(Pinch runner) AJ (Alejandro De La Torre) did a great job coming from second base and keeping his eyes on me to be able to get in there and score, too. That third run was pretty big.”
“I think the more times that you do it, you get more confidence to think that you can,” Wolf added about Joplin’s late game heroics this season. “We have done it in different ways …Our thing is, we’ve needed to be better in the early innings to put ourselves in a situation to win a game late.”
Mails finished with a hit and two RBI for Joplin, while Sotlar doubled and drove in one. Copher doubled and scored a run, while Queen added a hit and a run scored as well.
Kinder doubled twice and scored a run for Carthage, while Drew Musche had a 2-for-2 game at the plate.
Carthage hosts Nixa in COC action on Thursday before taking part in the Lawrence River City Festival over the weekend.
Joplin closes a busy week hosting a COC matchup against Willard on Thursday before hosting Smithville and Nevada on Senior Day on Saturday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“I just want to see us play hard and compete,” Wolf said. “Put ourselves in games late and have an opportunity to win. Pitching is always interesting during weeks like this because you have a plan, but you take it day by day. Then you reevaluate. Our next three are going to be tough games. … Hopefully, this is a little bit of a jumping board. You have a good feeling coming out of this one and stack some good days on good days.”
