WEBB CITY, Mo. — Two big innings propelled Webb City to a 17-2 run-rule win over Carl Junction on Tuesday in a Central Ozark Conference contest at Chuck Barnes Field.
In a clash with district implications, Webb City plated seven runs in the first inning and eight in the third before a two-run fourth ended the game early.
“It was a good win,” Cardinals coach Flave Darnell said. “It was nice to see us swing the bats well today because we’ve kind of been struggling offensively.”
Webb City improved to 11-12 overall and 4-2 in the COC, while Carl Junction slipped to 6-12 and 1-4 in conference action.
The hosts scored their 17 runs on 16 hits and also took advantage of six Carl Junction errors. Eight Webb City players recorded a hit and five had multi-hit games.
“We were aggressive on fastballs,” Coach Darnell said of the team’s key to success at the plate. “We talked about hitting fastballs early in the count. We didn’t allow him to get to his breaking ball because we know Shane (Diskin) is a good pitcher. It was nice to see us be aggressive early in counts.”
Cy Darnell, Kenley Hood and William Hayes had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, while Eric Fitch and Aidan Brock added two hits apiece. Hayes drove in four runs, while Fitch, Hood, Jeremiah Leaming and Brock had two RBI apiece.
Senior right-hander Cooper Crouch was the winning pitcher. A Crowder College signee, Crouch allowed one hit and four walks in four frames. He did not allow an earned run and struck out seven.
“Cooper settled in and started throwing more strikes later in the game,” Coach Darnell said. “He’s hard to hit when he’s in the zone.”
Carl Junction’s Diskin took the loss after giving up seven runs, one earned, on five hits in one inning. Lucas Vanlanduit allowed four earned runs and Hunter Cantrell gave up two earned runs.
Dalton Mills had CJ’s lone hit.
The Cardinals pushed across seven runs in the bottom of the first. Fitch reached on an error and Cy Darnell singled to right before Hood delivered a run-scoring single into left. After Cade Wilson was plunked, Brock smacked an RBI single into left.
Next, Hood scored from third on a passed ball before Wilson came home on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead.
Hayes followed with a two-run triple to left and Fitch contributed a run-scoring double to left for a seven-run cushion.
Carl Junction scored two runs in the second without recording a hit. After an error and two walks, Bentley Rowden was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. A second run came home on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Arlen Wakefield.
Webb City blew the game open with eight runs on six hits and two errors in the third. The Cardinals batted around for the second time in the contest. Fitch, Cy Darnell, Hood, Leaming and Kaylor Darnell all drove in runs with base hits.
Leaming and Brock drove in runs in the fourth for the 15-run advantage.
COACH DARNELL RECOGNIZED
Coach Darnell was recognized after the game for recently recording his 300th coaching win.
“That was great,” Darnell said. “I had an awesome experience at CJ and it’s been great here at Webb. I’ve built a lot of great relationships.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Webb City hosts Class 6 No. 2 Nixa at 4:30 on Wednesday.
“Nixa’s good,” Darnell said. “We’ll have to compete in the zone, hit fastballs and not really worry about who we’re playing.”
Carl Junction is scheduled to host Ozark on Wednesday.
The games were moved from Thursday to Wednesday due to the weather forecast.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
