WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals handled adversity well on Friday night.
After surrendering a two-run lead in the seventh inning, Webb City responded with five runs one frame later to earn an 11-6 win over Republic in a Central Ozark Conference clash at Chuck Barnes Field.
The visitors on the scoreboard after the game was moved to Webb City due to the recent wet weather, the Cardinals were one strike away from victory in the seventh before the Tigers rallied to force extra innings.
But the Cardinals weren’t demoralized. Instead, they were re-energized.
The hosts erupted for five runs on three hits and five free passes in the top of the eighth.
“We felt like we had them beat in the seventh before we gave that up,” Cardinals coach Flave Darnell said. “I was really happy to see our guys come back from that. We’d like to re-do that seventh inning and just win it there. But our guys came back and got it started in the eighth. We’re really proud of them for the way they battled.”
Webb City improved to 14-14 overall and finished 6-3 in conference play. Darnell noted it was a nice way to end the conference slate.
“Like everybody, we set out to win the conference,” Darnell said. “Obviously, we didn’t do that, but we finished 6-3 in the COC. It’s nice to finish in the top tier of the league.”
Down 2-0 after the Tigers scored twice in the second, the Cardinals plated five runs in the fourth.
Kenley Hood reached on an error, Cade Wilson walked and William Hayes recorded a bunt single to load the bases before Jeremiah Leaming’s sacrifice fly to center got the Cardinals on the board.
After Kaylor Darnell walked, Aidan Brock delivered a two-run single into right-center. Later in the inning, Eric Fitch smacked a two-run single into left for a 5-2 lead.
The Tigers (12-11, 5-3 COC) trimmed their deficit to one with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Republic stranded the tying run at third in the fifth, as Cardinals reliever Fitch worked out of trouble.
Webb City added a key insurance run in the sixth on Cy Darnell’s RBI single.
Republic plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a hit by pitch and two hits, including Ace McWatters’ game-tying single. Earlier in the frame, the Tigers took advantage of a dropped third strike to extend the game.
However, the Cardinals answered in a big way in the top of the eighth. Walker Sweet singled to get things started before Fitch walked and Cy Darnell reached on a fielder’s choice.
After an out, Wilson was hit by a pitch and Hayes drew a walk with the bases loaded.
Leaming followed with a run-scoring single. Walks to both McQuade Eilenstein and Sweet made it 11-6.
Sweet and Gage Chapman combined on a scoreless bottom half of the eighth, although the Tigers put two runners on-base before the final out was recorded.
“It’s good to be in those types of situations,” Darnell noted of the late adversity and pressure. “We start districts next weekend, so it was good for our guys to be in the situations they were in tonight. Playoff baseball is going to be tight.”
A junior right-hander, Kaylor Darnell started on the mound for the Cardinals. He went 3 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits in the no-decision.
Fitch, Sweet and Chapman all threw in relief. Sweet was credited with the win after going 2 1/3 innings.
Cy Darnell, Hayes, Leaming and Brock all had two hits apiece for Webb City, while Fitch, Leaming and Brock each drove in two runs.
The game, which took just under three hours to complete, featured 20 hits, 15 walks and six errors. The two teams combined to strand 27 runners, 16 by Republic and 11 by Webb City.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Darnell said. “Things were kind of contagious on the mound and contagious offensively. It wasn’t a great day of clean baseball, but we were able to come out with the win.”
Webb City is the second seed for the Class 5 District 7 tournament. The Cardinals will take on No. 7 Grandview at 2 on May 14 in Neosho.
“We’ve played a really tough schedule and we’ve been in a lot of tight pressure situations all season,” Darnell added. “We hope games like this prepare us for districts. We’ll see.”
The Cardinals host Joplin for a non-conference game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
