McDonald County built a 5-1 advantage and staved off a Joplin rally to defeat the Eagles 5-4 on Tuesday at the Joplin High School Athletic Complex.
It wasn’t exactly the way Joplin coach Manny Flores wanted the Eagles’ season opener to turn out, but with such a young squad, he was very pleased with the fight his team put up against a quality program.
“It’s like I tell them, just because we are young doesn’t mean we can’t come out and win,” Flores said. “It’s about learning from these experiences. This was the first game, so a lot of nerves were kicking in early. I thought we did a nice job later in the game of settling in and getting comfortable.”
“We did a good job of not trying to do too much (at the plate),” Flores added about the overall offensive approach in the game. “If we keep that same approach when we get runners on base, I think we will be just fine. We controlled what we could, put the ball in play and put pressure on them.”
After a scoreless first, McDonald County took a 2-0 lead with single tallies in the top of the second and third innings — with Neveah Dodson picking up a sacrifice fly in the second and Katelynn Townsend singling home a run in the third. Joplin cut the lead in half when Kirsten McMillen reached on a bunt single to bring home Abby McGinnis, who doubled to left to lead off the frame, making the score 2-1.
The Mustangs crossed home three times in the top of the fourth, with Dodson driving in a run with a double to right-center before an infield hit by Deorica Zamora pushed home the second run. Mariana Salas brought the final run of the inning home with a double down the third-base line to make the score 5-1.
Once again, Joplin rallied in the bottom half of the inning, with Reece Schroer singling to right-center, scoring Ryleigh Surridge to trim the Mustangs’ advantage to 5-2. McGinnis followed with an RBI groundout to bring the Eagles within two of the lead.
“That is a senior coming up in a spot that gave us a boost and got us back in the game,” Flores said of Schroer’s single. “You could see it gave energy to the girls, and it was a nice sigh of relief for us. Someone came through in the clutch, and I expect that to continue to happen as the year progresses.”
Bailey Ledford used a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the fifth for Joplin before coming around to score on a wild pitch to make the score 5-4. The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs but were unable to push home the tying run. It looked as if Joplin might take the lead when Schroer squared a ball up with two outs in the frame, only for it to be caught on the warning track just shy of the wall.
“In a situation like that, it’s just getting the girls to understand you don’t need to do too much right there,” Flores said. “If you put the ball in play, you put some pressure on the defense and see what happens.”
Alexa Hopkins earned the win in the circle for McDonald County after allowing four runs on six hits, seven strikeouts and one walk in four innings. Madeline McCall pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
Madisyn Tracy started and took the loss for Joplin. She allowed four runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. Brittany Shryock allowed one unearned run on 3 2/3 innings of relief. She allowed two hits and walked two.
“I thought our pitchers did an awesome job today,” Flores said. “They threw strikes and commanded the strike zone. They did an excellent job of pitching to (McDonald County) and making them put the ball in play. I thought our (defense) behind them made plays today, and I thought that was absolutely incredible.”
Ledford, Schroer, McGinnins, McMillen, Elisabeth Snider and Tatum Stogsdill all recorded hits for Joplin. Ledford, Stogsdill, McGinnis and Surridge accounted for all of the runs scored, while Schroer, McGinnis and McMillen all tallied RBI.
UP NEXT
Joplin travels to Cassville for a 4:30 p.m. matchup on Thursday.
