SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The postseason run came to an end for fifth-seeded Joplin after the Eagles fell to top-seeded Republic 13-3 in six innings on Thursday in the Class 6 District 6 title game at Central Ballpark.
Joplin and Republic traded runs in the first inning before the Tigers took command with a six-run second frame. Joplin trimmed the lead to four after scoring twice in the top of the sixth inning but Republic answered with six runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away.
“If you take this game as a snapshot, it obviously didn’t go our way,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “That’s baseball. Sometimes you just have to wear it a little bit. That’s a good baseball team over there. They are the district champs for a reason. They took advantage of some opportunities in the second and sixth innings. That offense can ambush you pretty quick, and they did. In the long run, when you see the big picture of what these guys accomplished, I am very proud of their efforts.”
SAYING GOODBYE
Joplin graduates seven seniors from this year’s squad—Fielding Campbell, Carson Wampler, David Fiscus, Kirk Chandler, Josh Harryman, Alex Curry and Kohl Cooper.
“That is the first group that has been with us for four years,” Wolf said. “When you spend that much time with a group of young men over the course of four years, you develop strong relationships. I am proud of them and what they’ve accomplished as a baseball team, but I am really looking forward to seeing the great things they’re going to do with their futures. They are going to go out and do good things for people in this world.”
“I love this team,” Cooper said. “I have never been a part of a team (like this), honestly. I have dealt with injuries and missed seasons. Finally, just being a part of a family, I have never experienced something like that.”
BITTERSWEET ENDING
Joplin closes the 2021 season with a 20-11 overall record, while garnering a 6-3 Central Ozark Conference record. It was the first 20-win season for the Joplin program since 2013-14.
“There have been some ups and downs, and some adversity that you go through as a team,” Wolf said. “These guys have fought through a lot of things. I guess my catchphrase is ‘find a way.’ We’d get knocked down sometimes, but we always got back up and I am proud of them for that.”
“Twenty wins in a season is something that hasn’t been done in a long, long time in Joplin,” Cooper said. “We beat some really good teams this year — we beat Webb City, we beat Kickapoo — we beat some teams a lot of people never thought we could come close to beating. It didn’t go our way today. (Republic) is just flat-out a great team.”
ON THE MOUND
Gavyn Beckner earned the win after allowing three runs on 10 hits, three walks and 5 1/3 innings. Cole Iles pitched 2/3 of an inning and didn’t allow a run while giving up one hit and walking one.
Ethan Guilford started on short rest and took the loss after allowing six runs, five earned, on five hits and three walks in one-plus inning. Campbell allowed one run on one hit and four strikeouts over four relief innings. Harryman allowed three runs on two hits and Chandler allowed three runs on one hit and two free passes.
GAME ACTION
Joplin struck first in the district championship, pushing across a run in the top of the first when Alex Curry drove in Bodee Carlson from second with a line drive to left-center field. Carlson singled to lead off the inning.
Republic answered right back in the bottom half of the first when Jared Hughes singled to left field with two outs to score a run and tie the game at 1-1.
Republic took command of the lead in the bottom of the second after plating six runs for a 7-1 advantage. The Tigers saw their first six batters of the inning reach base. Republic took the lead when Vincent Pyeatt drew a bases-loaded walk. Beckner singled in the next at-bat with the bags full to score two runners. Ryker Harrington followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 5-1. The Tigers used a two-base sacrifice fly on a diving catch by Joplin’s Brady Mails in left-center field to plate a run, and Hughes wrapped the scoring with a sac fly.
Joplin loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the third before Carlson was called out trying to take home on a wild pitch on a bang-bang play to end the threat.
The Eagles scored twice in the top of the six to trim the lead to 7-3. Guilford drove home a run with an RBI single to right-center before Carlson picked up an RBI with a sac fly to center.
Beckner highlighted the Tigers’ sixth inning with a two-run double.
IN THE BOX
Beckner led the Tigers at the plate with three hits, including a double, a game-high four RBI and a run scored. Richard Potter had two hits and scored two runs, while Hughes had one hit and three RBI. Pyeatt had three RBI and two runs scored.
Fiscus and Campbell led Joplin with two hits each, with Campbell scoring a run. Carlson had one hit, scored a run and drove in a run. Curry and Guilford each had hits and tallied one RBI apiece.
“I am proud of our young guys for stepping up into some roles and situations that at the beginning of the year, none of us would have thought they’d be in,” Wolf said when asked about the future of his program. “They stepped into it and found a way to compete for us. At the end of the day, you can’t learn to play in these kinds of games if you don’t find a way to get into these games. We found a way to get to it today. Hopefully, there are some lessons that are learned and we can continue to progress so we can get back here next year.”
