It wasn’t the Opening Day of baseball Joplin had hoped for, as the Eagles started the season by dropping both games of a doubleheader against Hollister on Saturday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
Joplin and Hollister opened the season with six scoreless innings before the Tigers erupted for seven runs in the top of the seventh inning on the way to a 7-0 win in Game 1. Hollister built an early lead through the first two innings and went on to complete the sweep 15-3.
“Obviously, we were not very good today,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “But, it’s only two games and there are a lot of them this season. It’s my hope that maybe this humbles us a little bit and puts us in a position where we want to come to work and do some of the little things that are difference makers that we didn’t do today.”
HOLLISTER 7, JOPLIN 0
Joplin’s Ethan Guilford and Hollister’s Hunter Jones were locked in a pitcher’s duel in the first of two games, with each pitching a six-inning shutout heading into the seventh inning.
After a leadoff single, Jones reached on an error on a fly ball to center field to put runners on second and third with no outs. Ryland Franks followed with a two-run double to right-center field to notch the first two runs of the game. Two batters later, Ethan Wright singled to left-center to plate two more runs to push the lead to 4-0. The Tigers added two more runs on an Eagles error later in the inning before Sam Teaster wrapped the scoring with an RBI single up the middle to make the score 7-0.
“The crazy thing is that was a really, really good opening day baseball game for six innings,” Wolf said about the opener. “Both pitchers filled it up, defensively it was clean and it was just really good baseball for six innings before the wheels kind of fell off for us. We couldn’t find a way to recover from that, and that is the type of thing we need to figure out. We can be pretty good when things are going well for us. We have to find a way to compete when we face a little adversity and things don’t go our way.”
Jones earned the win after pitching six innings without allowing a run on two hits, four walks and seven strikeouts. Franks earned the save after walking one in a scoreless seventh.
Guilford took the loss after surrendering three runs, two earned, on six hits and seven strikeouts in six-plus innings of work. Joe Jasper allowed four runs, one earned, on three hits, a walk and a strikeout in one inning.
Franks had two hits, including a double, and drove in two, while Wright also doubled and finished with two hits and two RBI.
Byler Reither and Tyler Schumann each had hits for Joplin.
HOLLISTER 15, JOPLIN 3
Hollister wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second game, plating three runs in top of the first, highlighted by an RBI single from Clay Kemp.
Layten Copher picked up Joplin’s first RBI of the game in the bottom half of the inning to trim the lead to 3-1.
The Tigers added two more runs in the second inning on an RBI triple from Blake Russell and a bases-loaded walk by Teaster.
Hollister blew the game open an inning later with a five-run third frame to push the lead to 12-1. Kemp highlighted the inning with a two-run single, while Luke Calovich had an RBI double.
Ronny Daniels earned the win for Hollister after allowing one run on five hits, two walks and five strikeouts in three innings. Malachi Henry allowed one run on two hits and a strikeout in one inning, while Calovich struck out two, walked two and allowed one run in two relief innings.
Justin McReynolds took the loss for Joplin after surrendering five runs, four earned, on two hits, five walks and two strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. Alex Isbell, Brady Mails and Tyler Duley worked out of the pen.
Teaster doubled and finished with two hits, two runs scored and a game-high four RBI for the Tigers. Russell had two hits, two RBI and three runs scored, while Kemp and Calovich each had two hits, two runs scored and two RBI.
Bodee Carlson had two doubles and scored a run, while Copher had two hits and two RBI.
“We need to look at and learn how to make a change in our approach based on what we are seeing,” Wolf said about the day offensively. “Too many times, I think we are up there thinking that we want this (certain) pitch and we’re not going to get it. We have to start looking at what we are going to get and be prepared to do what we can with it.”
ON DECK
Joplin is at St. Mary’s Colgan on Tuesday at Jaycee Ballpark in Pittsburg, Kansas.
