NEOSHO, Mo. — With runners on first and second and one out in the last of the eighth inning, Neosho’s Eli Zar came up clutch, delivering a sharp line drive to center field that was misplayed to plate Finn Versluis, who was the runner for Colton Southern after he singled to lead off the inning, and send the Wildcats to a 1-0 walk-off Central Ozark Conference win over Joplin at Roy B. Shaver Field on Tuesday.
“Everytime I step in the box, I know it’s just me and the pitcher and nobody else,” Zar said after the win. “I just want to put the ball in play as hard as I can. … I was thinking either offspeed, something middle away, or fastball and just take it right up the middle and I did just that.”
Neosho’s hot start to the 2023 season continues with the win as the Wildcats improve to 11-3, 1-1 in conference play.
“This win is massive,” Neosho coach Bo Helsel said. “These kids have grinded for two years, preparing to win these big conference games. Last year, we couldn’t get any of them. We were in a lot of them. This year, this is how the team is. The mentality has flipped. We expect to win. We scored when we needed to and Kael threw a hell of a game. And of course, Eli, Mr. Clutch, comes through for us again. … He just takes good swings. He hits it hard and on a line and is able to see pitches really well. He is the one guy I want up there with the game on the line and he came through for us today.”
With the loss, Joplin falls to 4-9, 1-1 in the COC.
“That was a tough one to swallow,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said after the loss. “We did so many things right throughout the course of that game to put ourselves in a position to tack on some runs throughout the game and just not get to that point. … We just needed a ball put in play a couple of times to give ourselves an opportunity to score some runs and didn’t get it done. We have to find a way to scratch some runs across when we have chances.”
It was a conference pitcher’s duel in every sense of the phrase between Neosho’s Kael Smith and Joplin’s Justin McReynolds, who each ultimately took a no-decision.
Smith dazzled on the bump, allowing two hits, a pair of walks while striking out seven in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
“Kael should be discussed with the top of the pitchers in the conference,” Helsel said. “Game in and game out, he is a grinder for us. He didn’t have his offspeed as well as he has had in the past, but he filled it up. That’s what he does. He doesn’t walk a lot of guys and keeps his pitch count low so he can go 6 2/3 innings. … He just competes for us. It showed today and it will show the rest of the year, I have no doubt.”
The only time Smith found himself under duress came in the top of the fourth inning when Joplin used a leadoff single from Byler Reither and a walk from McReynolds to eventually put runners on second and third with one out after a sacrifice bunt from Landon Maples. Smith promptly got out of the jam with a strikeout before inducing a fly out to end the inning.
“I honestly don’t really worry too much with runners on with him,” Helsel said. “His mentality doesn’t change. He expects to get every hitter out. He doesn’t really fall behind in counts and that helped him today.”
For the Eagles, McReynolds’ string of dominant starts continued as he allowed three hits, walked one and struck out eight over seven innings of scoreless baseball.
“Justin, all year long, has been great and consistent,” Wolf said. “When he is on the mound, we know we have an opportunity to win a game and he gave us another one today. He pitched through a little traffic in the middle innings, but you felt like he was in control of the game the entire time. When you have him on the mound, finding a way to score one run is probably the difference. It has been twice. He gave us every opportunity and was really, really good for us.”
Joplin had the first chance to get on the scoreboard in the extra frame, loading the bases with one out after a walk from Brock Waghorn, an infield hit from Brady Mails and a walk by Caden Shoemaker.
Neosho’s River Brill ended the threat there, earning back-to-back strikeouts to send the game into the bottom half of the eighth.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about all year,” Wolf said when asked what he wants to see in his team’s approach at the plate in run-scoring opportunities. “We’ve put different things in in practice to get comfortable in those situations. Your approach just has to be to put a good swing on a ball and not try to do too much. I just felt like we were trying to do too much. In a lot of cases, just a ball in play was going to be a run. Just shorten it up and focus on getting the ball in play to give us an opportunity to score a run. In that game, that one run loomed really large.
“I feel bad for the guys because I know they’re trying. We just have to understand when we have those opportunities, we don’t have to do too much. We just have to do enough.”
Brill earned the win in relief, allowing one hit and walking two with a pair of strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.
“River is our closer,” Helsel said. “He has the best velo on the team and it’s perfect for him to come in late because I don’t want to throw my shortstop in starts. He came in and struggled a little bit, but I don’t worry because he has been consistent all year. He will have a walk here or there, but he is a strikeout machine. His curveball was on today and they weren’t touching him.”
Reither took the loss in relief for Joplin after allowing one run on two hits and a walk in 1/3 of an inning.
Zar had two hits for Neosho, including a double in the fourth to go along with his walk-off single in the eighth. Southern had a hit and scored a run. Carter Fenske and Brody Crane registered hits for Neosho.
Maples doubled for Joplin, while Mails and Reither collected the other two hits.
DAY OFF
Zar got the rare day off behind the plate as the Wildcats’ mainstay at catcher. Sophomore Kanten Smith got the start behind the dish, catching his older brother, Kael, a senior, at the varsity level.
“It was spectacular to see,” Zar said. “I have worked with him for two years now and there is never a dull moment. It was really cool (for him to catch his brother). I know his mom really enjoyed that and his dad thought it was pretty cool.”
UP NEXT
Neosho hosts Ozark in conference play on Thursday, while Joplin hosts Nixa.
