Joplin rallied back from an early deficit and used a five-run third inning en route to a 9-3 win over Carl Junction in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
The Bulldogs (14-8, 3-4 COC) struck for two runs in the first inning before the Eagles (15-9, 6-2 COC) added single tallies in the first and second frames to tie the game up at 2-2. Joplin put momentum firmly in its favor after scoring five runs with two outs in the third for a 7-2 advantage. The Eagles added a two-out insurance run in the fifth and another in the sixth before Carl Junction wrapped the scoring with a run in the seventh.
“This league is really good and you have to show up everyday and compete your tail off to have a chance to win,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “Anytime you can get a win in this conference, it feels good.”
“Joplin is a good team and they do a lot of good things,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “Their body of work shows they are a good team. I thought our guys came out ready to play. Maybe some things didn’t go our way inside the game, but we just have to overcome adversity a little better. When we do that, we will be a good version of ourselves.”
ON THE MOUND
Ethan Guilford earned the complete-game win after allowing three runs, two earned, in seven innings of work for Joplin. He allowed six hits, one walk and struck out five.
“Ethan was really good,” Wolf said. “When he is keeping the ball down and his slider is working on the edge, working with confidence, he can be a lot to handle. He was pounding the zone.”
Drew Beyer started and took the loss for Carl Junction after allowing eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits, two walks and six strikeouts in four innings. Kyler Perry allowed one unearned run on three hits, two walks and a strikeout in two relief innings.
GAME ACTION
Carl Junction didn’t need long to reach the scoreboard, scoring a pair of two-out runs in the top of the first to gain the lead. After two quick outs to start the game, the Bulldogs used a single through the left side by Noah Southern and a single through the right side by Alex Baker to put runners on first and third. A wild pitch allowed Southern to score the game’s first run and Dylan Eck added an RBI single to center field to score Baker.
“Even to start that inning, we had a well hit ball by Carson (Johnson) and a well hit ball by Drew (Beyer) and then followed up with some hits that led us to two runs,” Stevenson said. “I thought our guys came out ready to compete and play. Then, we just kind of went away in the middle innings and tried to come back a little too late.”
Joplin got a run back in the bottom of the first when Kohl Cooper ripped a ball over the wall in right-center for a solo home run to trim the lead to 2-1.
“It was really important for us to get on the board and cut it in half right there,” Wolf said about Cooper’s home run in the first inning. “It’s just one run, but being down one feels a lot better than two.”
The Eagles tied the game up at 2-2 when Justin McReynolds singled through the right side to plate a run in the bottom of the second.
“He’s just kept working throughout the season,” Wolf said of his sophomore’s performance at the plate. “He came up in some big situations and was able to get the job done. Super proud of him for not making the moment bigger than it was and just finding a way.”
Like the Bulldogs in the first, two-out lightning struck for Joplin in the third inning with a five-run frame to take control of the game. Alex Curry gave the Eagles the lead after an RBI single to right-center. David Fiscus followed with a double down the line to left to plate a run before McReynolds came up with a two-run single to center to push the lead to 6-2. Guilford helped his cause with an RBI single up the middle to cap the scoring.
“Two-out hits win games,” Wolf said. “To be able to string three or four of them together in that situation and put up a five spot should give our guys confidence that we are capable of doing that consistently. There were a lot of two-out hits, but there were a lot of two-strike hits. I think that is important to recognize. You get three of them for a reason. If you keep fighting and find a way to put the ball in play, good things will happen.”
The Eagles put an insurance run on the board in the bottom of the fifth with Carson Wampler singled through the right side with the bases loaded and two outs to push the lead to 8-2.
“I think those two late runs might have been as important as those two early runs,” Wolf said. “It just kind of keeps your energy and momentum going and takes a little away from them.”
Carl Junction’s Carson Johnson hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to cap the game’s scoring.
IN THE BOX
Joplin’s offense finished with 12 total hits in the win, with every starter recording at least one hit in the win. McReynolds finished with two hits, a team-high three RBI and a run scored. Cooper homered for one of his two hits and scored a team-high three runs while driving in one.
“We’ve been talking the last couple weeks about how we are right there and just waiting to break through,” Wolf said of the Eagles’ offensive production. “Hopefully, this is the start of us getting hot and stringing runs and hits up and down the lineup. … It doesn’t have to be something dynamic, I just thought we had a lot of competitive at-bats.”
Baker had two hits and scored a run for Cal Junction. Johnson homered, drove in one and scored one, while Eck had a hit and an RBI.
UP NEXT
Joplin hosts Willard on Thursday.
Carl Junction hosts Branson on Thursday.
