NEOSHO, Mo. — What is better than showing off your brand new fully turfed field on opening day? After a set of games that were originally slated for Lebanon had to be moved because of field conditions due to recent weather, Neosho stepped up and welcomed the Yellowjackets and Carl Junction to the new Roy B. Shaver Field on Saturday.
“We are really blessed to have it,” Neosho coach Danny Powers said. “Our community really deserves it, and it is something we are very proud of. We are in a position now with rainouts, we can always move the locations. We can get more games in, and we can get more practices in, too. We are grateful for the community and school district supporting us.”
Carl Junction, which earned an 11-1 win over Lebanon early on Saturday, opened with four runs in the top of the first before adding on insurance in the middle innings en route to the six-inning 13-1 win over Neosho to start the season 2-0.
“I thought our guys did a good job,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “Our pitchers commanded two pitches for strikes. Offensively, we came out with some confidence and fed off each other to manufacture some runs when we needed to. There are still some things we can get better at, but it was certainly nice to see that offensively today.”
CJ’s Carson Johnson, Drew Beyer, Noah Southern, Dylan Eck and Brendyn Downs all had two hits in the win over the Wildcats. Southern hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth and led the Bulldogs with a game-high four RBI. Eck had two RBI, while Johnson and Beyer led CJ with three runs scored each. Cole Stewart doubled and scored twice.
“We had a plan coming into this season where we need to strike first on offense,” Stevenson said. “I thought our guys did that today. … Today it felt like the ball went our way a little bit. It’s not always going to be that way. So, we still need to continue to find ways to get guys into scoring position and get that timely hit, working on those small things that will be big things later on.”
Brett Slavens and Eli Zar each had hits for Neosho (0-2).
Beyer earned the win after allowing one run on two hits, two walks and four strikeouts in five innings of work. Eck pitched a scoreless inning in relief, striking out one.
Carter Fenske took the loss after allowing four runs on one hit, six strikeouts and five walks in 2 2/3 innings. Slavens allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings in relief.
In earlier action, Neosho fell to Lebanon 7-5.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first game,” Powers said about Neosho’s opening day. “Lebanon threw two good arms at us. We are fairly young, but our kids put the ball in play and were in a position to win it. We just had some mental and physical errors at the end of the first game, and that seemed to carry over into the second game.”
