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PREP BASEBALL: Joplin senior Fielding Campbell sends Eagles home with walk-off win on Senior Night

By:
Lucas Davis

If you subscribe to the notion that baseball is poetry in motion then you’ll certainly appreciate the ending to Joplin’s final home game of the season.  

On a day where the weather felt more like the first game of the season than the second-to-last, Joplin honored its seniors in the best way possible after the Eagles earned a 1-0 walk-off win over Lamar thanks to senior Fielding Campbell’s bases-loaded fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.

“You want them to have a positive memory of walking off the field the last time they get to play a game here,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “I don’t know if there is anything more exciting or memorable than a walk-off win.”

Joplin senior Fielding Campbell celebrates with teammates after coming up with a walk-off fielder’s choice in the Eagles’ win over Lamar on Senior Night. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

Campbell came up with the game-winning at-bat to earn the victory for Joplin, hitting a bases-loaded chopper to the left side of the drawn-in infield that allowed Justin McReynolds to beat the throw home with a head-first slide to push across the winning run.

“It was a great feeling,” Campbell said of the win. “It was a slow game for us today. We couldn’t really get anything going. We knew we were going to have to grind something out. In the seventh inning, we knew we had to put something on the board. The first couple of batters really just battled out at-bats and found a way to get on. I came up and on my first two pitches I had the idea of hitting a line drive but I fell behind early, so I had to choke up and find a way to put something in play.”

With both offenses failing to reach the scoreboard through the first 39 outs of the game, the Eagles started the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff walk. Small ball played a big role in loading the bases, as Brady Mails and senior Carson Wampler dropped down back-to-back perfect bunts down the first-base line that were intended to be sacrificial before both runners beat them out for base hits.

“We’ve talked about it all year,” Wolf said. “It doesn’t have to be a huge, dynamic type of thing that gets the job done. Sometimes, it’s very simply putting pressure on people by getting bunts down and putting the ball in play. … Eventually, if you keep putting the ball in play, you feel like you are going to break through.”

After an infield fly for an out, Campbell found himself in an early 0-2 hole before battling his way to the walk-off fielder’s choice.

“Fielding is a grinder and a competitor,” Wolf said. “He got down with two strikes and I felt confident he was going to put the ball in play somewhere. With the infield in, if he can put the ball in play, we have a chance. … Justin got a great break from third and had a good read on it and was able to get there.”

Joplin’s Justin McReynolds slides into home to score the winning run in the Eagles’ walk-off victory over Lamar on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

SENIOR NIGHT

Prior to the game, Joplin held Senior Night ceremonies for Campbell, Wampler, David Fiscus, Kirk Chandler, Josh Harryman, Alex Curry and Kohl Cooper.
“That is a pretty special group,” Wolf said of his seniors. “I was talking with the coaches before the game, and that is the first group that we’ve had for four years. … That is a pretty special group. I am not going to lie to you, when I look out there and see them, knowing they’ve been with us all that time, there was a high pollen count in the air I guess. … I am very proud of them for grinding that one out.”

“It was really cool,” Campbell said when asked how it felt for the senior class to win in a walk-off in the final home game. “We have been playing together for at last eight or nine years now. It’s a really cool feeling and it’s been a fun ride. Hopefully, we can keep it going into districts.” 

ON THE MOUND

Normally the team’s back-end option out of the pen, Harryman opened the game for the Eagles and earned a no-decision after holding the Tigers scoreless without allowing a hit and striking out three in two innings.

“Josh got the start tonight and that’s out of his element a little bit,” Wolf said. “When you do that, the routine is different and things like that. I thought he competed well.”

Joplin senior Josh Harryman delivers a pitch to home in the Eagles’ win over Lamar on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

Chandler, who retired nine straight to end the game, earned the win after blanking Lamar over five full innings on one hit, no walks and seven strikeouts.

“Kirk came out and just was really good,” Wolf said. “Kirk was the Kirk Chandler that we know he can be tonight. He pounded the zone and threw his curveball for strikes. He did a really good job.” 

Missouri Southern commit Case Tucker started for Lamar and didn’t allow a run in three innings, giving up four hits and striking out two. Stetson Wiss pitched three no-hit innings and struck out two. Ryan Davis took the loss after allowing one run on two hits and a walk in 1/3 of an inning.

IN THE BOX

In a game that saw seven combined hits, Joplin finished with six of them. Curry led the Eagles with a 2-for-3 game, while Cooper, Harryman, Mails and Wampler all recorded base hits. Campbell had the lone RBI of the game, while McReynolds scored the only run.

Cade Griffith had the only hit for Lamar in the loss.

SCHEDULE CHANGE

The win against Lamar was originally scheduled as Joplin’s final regular game of the season. Joplin will now travel to Bolivar for a matchup on Thursday to wrap the regular season.

“Late in the year, you want to play more than you want to practice,” Wolf said about adding the game against the Liberators. “It’s an opportunity to play against a good program. Anytime you can do that, you take advantage of it.”

Joplin senior Kirk Chandler delivers a pitch to home during the Eagles’ win over Lamar on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

DISTRICTS LOOMING

Joplin earned the fifth seed in the Class District 6 tournament. The Eagles square off against fourth-seeded Lebanon at 1:30 p.m. on May 17 at Springfield Central.

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