NEOSHO, Mo. — The Carl Junction Bulldogs survived and advanced.
Fourth-seeded Carl Junction let an early slip away, but the Bulldogs responded late to earn a thrilling 5-4 victory in 10 innings over top-seeded McDonald County on Monday night in a semifinal contest of the Class 5 District 7 baseball tournament at Roy B. Shaver Field.
The Bulldogs held a four-run cushion, only to see the Mustangs tie it up in the bottom of the seventh. But the underdog Bulldogs scored the lone run of extra innings in the 10th to earn the right to play another game.
“That was a really fun high school baseball game and I’m glad we came out on top,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Kevin Burgi and McDonald County. They’re a really good team. And I have to give all the credit to our players and our coaching staff. Our guys stayed composed and they took advantage of their opportunity tonight.”
The Bulldogs (13-16) will meet second-seeded Webb City (18-15) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the district championship game.
“It’s awesome for these guys,” Stevenson said of being in a district title game. “We got bumped up to Class 5 a couple of years ago, so it’s great just to have this opportunity on Wednesday. We’ve got a lot of work to do at practice tomorrow and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to play on Wednesday.”
Carl Junction will compete for a district title for the first time since 2019, when they lost to Monett.
The fourth-ranked Mustangs end a stellar season with a record of 22-9. That’s a school record for wins for the Mustangs, who also secured their first-ever Big 8 title this spring.
“We’re not upset because we lost, we’re sad because the season is over,” Mustangs coach Kevin Burgi said. “We’ve had a great year. The three seniors (Levi Helm, Cole Martin and Colton Ruddick) who played their last game tonight did nothing but buy in and play as hard as they could for four years. Levi was tremendous on the mound today. Cole had some big at-bats…he sparks the offense. Colton gave us some really good at-bats as well. I’m proud of those guys.”
The Bulldogs got off to a great start against the favored Mustangs.
Carl Junction pushed across three runs in the first inning against Weston Gordon on three hits and a walk. Jordan Woodruff delivered an RBI single and Shane Diskin contributed a two-run single for an early three-run cushion.
The Bulldogs added a run in the third on Drew Massey’s sacrifice fly for a 4-0 advantage.
“Our kids were ready to play,” Stevenson said. “We had that feeling when we got on the bus today. The guys were ready to compete. I’m proud of them.”
Held in check through the first four frames, McDonald County plated two runs in the fifth.
Cole Martin singled, Cross Dowd doubled and Isaac Behm walked to load the bases. Destyn Dowd drew a walk to get the Mustangs on the board. After a pitching change, Tucker Walters was plunked with the bases loaded, trimming Mac County’s deficit to 4-2.
The score held up until the bottom of the seventh. Down to their final three outs, the Mustangs rallied for two runs. Levi Helm singled and Behm doubled. After an out, a miscue in the field allowed a run to score.
With two outs, the tying run scored from third on a wild pitch. The Bulldogs got the final out to send the game into extra innings.
“We knew 4-0 wasn’t safe,” Stevenson said. “We knew they’d battle back. But when they tied it up, I thought our kids could have quit or went away. They continued to fight and be resilient. And we’ve had some tough times this year and we’ve had our backs against the wall at times this year. I feel like some of those moments prepared us for a game like tonight.”
McDonald County had the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth, but the Bulldogs and relief pitcher Diskin somehow escaped unscathed, as a strikeout, a pop out and a ground out up the middle ended the threat.
The Bulldogs plated the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th. Logan Eck and Kyler Perry both walked before Woodruff singled to load the bases with one out. Lucas Vanlanduit then came through in a big way, as he lifted a sac fly to right, giving the Bulldogs a 5-4 advantage.
The Mustangs went down in order in the bottom half of the frame, and the Bulldogs celebrated a memorable victory.
“Coach Stevenson has done a great job at Carl,” Burgi said. “He got his guys ready to play. There’s not a lot of things for our guys to hang their heads about. We couldn’t get the bats going early, but we had our chances late. That’s the game of baseball. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
NAMES & NUMBERS
Woodruff was the lone Bulldog to record two hits.
Vanlanduit went 4 2/3 innings on the mound, allowing two earned runs on six hits and four walks. He struck out seven.
Diskin pitched the final 5 1/3 innings to earn the win. He gave up two runs, none earned, on two hits and three walks while striking out four.
Mac County’s Gordon went two innings and surrendered three runs, two earned, on three hits and two walks.
Helm pitched 7 1/3 innings, striking out 13 and allowing one hit and one walk. Behm recorded two outs and gave up one hit. Helm had three hits for the Mustangs, while Martin had two.
