Menu
Junior Legion splits with Scott County
SIKESTON - The Sikeston Junior Legion Auxiliary Unit 114 baseball team split a doubleheader with district foe Scott County on Tuesday at VFW Stadium.
Sikeston lost the first game, which counts towards district standings, 4-3 despite the pitching efforts of Jordan Kimball.
Three errors in the fifth inning led to three runs which gave Scott County a 4-2 lead.
Sikeston was able to get one run back to cut the lead to 4-3 but it wasn't enough.
"We wanted to win the first one," said Sikeston head coach Jeff Limbaugh. "We had opportunities, but once again we didn't play good defense. We had the one inning where we had three straight errors, that ended up being our downfall. And that was after an infield single."
Kimball was nearly unhittable as he struck out 13 batters, walked one and allowed four hits in seven innings pitched. He allowed just one earned run.
It's the second outing in a row that Kimball has thrown well but hasn't been able to get the victory.
"He threw good enough to win, but it just didn't happen," said Limbaugh. "Hopefully we can pick him up sometime down the road to where we can hit the ball and play better defense."
Along with the team's struggles in the field, Unit 114 couldn't get anything going at the plate either as they managed just four hits.
Cullen DeHart and Joe Lincoln each had doubles while Eric Chappell and JR Bizzell each had singles. Kimball had the team's only RBI.
Limbaugh expressed concern over the team's hitting woes in the last few games.
"We're just in a funk right now," said Limbaugh. "It's still early and we're playing a lot of games. You don't want to peak too early and we're definitely not peaking right now."
Johnston got the win for Scott County.
In the nightcap, Sikeston jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning. Scotty County closed the gap to 6-5 in the top of the sixth before Unit 114 put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Garland Hemphill got the win with 5 2/3 innings pitched. He allowed five runs off seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Ben Walters got the save with 1 1/3 innings pitched. He allowed one unearned run off two hits with two strikeouts.
Simpher was the losing pitcher.
Jordan Penn and Cody Black led Unit 114 with two hits each. Penn had a double and Black had an RBI.
Colt Pruitt went 1-3 with a double and two RBIs. Matt Limbaugh had a single and an RBI.
Andy Gantner, Lincoln, Ross Merideth, Walters and Hemphill each had hits for Sikeston.
"We hit the ball well the second game," said Limbaugh. "That's what we're capable of doing. All the players can do that. Really we need our offense to start doing it every game. We just need to get our big-boppers going."
Sikeston (8-4, 1-1 district) will host Poplar Bluff on Friday at 6 p.m. in a doubleheader.
Sikeston will play at Ballard County, Ky., on Sunday at 2 p.m. for a doubleheader.