Carl Junction took its first loss of the season after falling 8-3 to Hollister on Friday at Joe Becker Stadium.
The Bulldogs (3-1) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth only to see the Tigers (3-1) score six times in the top of the seventh on the way to the win.
“You want to get out of the gate on a good start, and we’ve certainly done that,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “But, it’s a process. In the end, we want to be the best team and best version of ourselves. You learn a lot about your team through adversity. … There wasn’t any talk on our part about going 27-0. We’re going to have a tough game in there. We get to bounce back tomorrow and we will get to learn a lot about our team tomorrow, too.”
ON THE MOUND
Drew Beyer earned the start and took the no-decision, allowing two runs on eight hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Carson Johnson allowed six runs, one earned, on four hits, four walks and a strikeout.
“I thought that, and Drew will tell you this, too, but he found a way to compete and get six strong innings while not having his best stuff or command of his breaking stuff,” Stevenson said of Beyer’s start. “Those are some things you will deal with in some outings. But, as a pitcher, that is not always going to be there and you still have to compete, and I thought he did that. He gave us a good outing.”
Landan Richards earned the win for the Tigers after allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits, six walks and eight strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Colby Teaster struck out five over 2 1/3 relief innings, surrendering one run on three hits.
GAME NOTES
Hollister recorded three hits and two walks in the top of the first inning and took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Clay Kemp.
The Tigers pushed the lead to 2-0 in the top of the third inning when Colby Teaster brought home Layton Morgan with a sac fly to center field. Morgan started the inning off with a single to right field before moving to second on a walk and third on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs cut the deficit in half in the last of the fourth inning after Kyler Perry came up with a two-out RBI single to right field to score Dylan Eck, who led off the inning with a walk.
Carl Junction tied the game up at 2-2 an inning later when Alex Baker scored Cole Stewart with an RBI groundout. Stewart doubled to right field to lead off the frame.
“I thought those were certainly some good at-bats,” Stevenson said. “Also, I think it is good to play in a close game and to play from behind. It’s baseball. The ball is going to fall your way some of the time and sometimes it won’t. I thought our guys did a good job of fighting back in this game.”
Hollister scored six runs, five with two outs, on five hits and four walks in the top of the seventh. All but one run were unearned.
Carl Junction added a run in the bottom of the seventh to trim the lead to five but would get no closer before the final out was made.
AT THE PLATE
Johnson led Carl Junction at the plate with a 2-for-3 game, including a double while scoring a run. Beyer, Perry, Noah Southern, Brendyn Downs and Keaton Johnston all recorded hits, with Perry and Baker each driving in a run.
Konner Hatfield had three hits, including a double, and walked twice on the way to scoring once to go along with one RBI. Morgan had two hits, two RBI and scored two runs.
UP NEXT
Carl Junction hosts McDonald County (3-1) at 10 a.m. and Springfield Central at 2 p.m. at CJHS.
