NMCC rally comes up short

~NEW MADRID

The Kennett Indians scored two runs in the top of the fifth and held off a late rally to defeat the New Madrid County Central Eagles 4-3 on Thursday.

NMCC (6-4) had runners on second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh but couldn't plate a run.

Kennett's Dustin Pritchett got the complete game win, allowing five hits and four walks with 12 strikeouts.

"I didn't think we played bad after a 10-day layoff," said NMCC head coach John Jones. "We played with intensity and had the lead early. We're just going to have to regroup and play well (today)."

NMCC scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to lead 3-0. Kennett scored two in the top of the fourth to trim the Eagles' lead to 3-2.

NMCC's Jake Kimball took the loss. He allowed two runs off three hits and four walks with three strikeouts in four innings. Justen Palmer pitched three innings in relief, allowing two runs off five hits with three strikeouts.

Kimball led the Eagle offensive attack with two hits and a run. Palmer had a hit and two RBIs and Joey Higgerson had one hit with an RBI. Stowe Jones and Brian Murph each had one hit. Jones and Mark Adam Wade each scored a run.

Kennett (10-4) was led by Dustin Pritchett's two hits and Nathan Baker's two hits and two RBIs.

NMCC will play Perryville today at 3:30 in the Chaffee Invitational. They will play on Saturday against either Dexter or Chaffee at 9:30 a.m.

Scott City 15, East Prairie 11

SCOTT CITY - The East Prairie Eagles dropped a 15-11 slugfest to the Scott City Rams on Thursday.

East Prairie tied the game at 11-11 in the top of the sixth inning on Michael Smith's two-run single, but couldn't hold on.

Joseph Thurmond took the loss for the Eagles, allowing 15 runs (10 earned) off 13 hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Cody Archie led the Eagles with three hits and four RBIs. Matt Boyer added two hits. The Eagles had 12 hits in the game.

"That's the best hitting display we've put together all year," said East Prairie head coach Jason Aycock. "I'm proud of the boys' effort. They kept battling and kept their focus the whole game."

East Prairie (2-10) will host Kelly on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Notre Dame 7, Dexter 5

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Dexter Bearcats recent baseball slide continued, losing 7-5 to the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Thursday.

The Bearcats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Matt Burnett home run, but the Bulldogs scored four two-out runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Dexter never could recover.

"If we make one play with two outs then that could've been the difference," said Dexter head coach Brian Becker. "That kind of put us in the hole early."

Dexter's Brent Montgomery took the loss, throwing 3 2/3 innings and allowing six runs off six hits and six walks with three strikeouts.

"I'm proud of my kids with the way they battled back - we've kind of been down in the last few games," said Becker. "We had 10 hits and that's probably more than we've had in the last three games combined."

Burnett led the Bearcats with three hits and two RBIs. Cody Boyer and Derek Burnett each had two hits. Chase Kennedy had a solo homer. Nick Smith and Derek Burnett each had an RBI.

Notre Dame's Scott Eftink got the win on the mound. John O'Rourke went 2-3 with a double and Todd Friend had a solo home run for the Bulldogs.

Dexter (6-6) will play Chaffee in the Chaffee Invitational today at 5:45.

South Pemiscot 11, Kelly 7

STEELE - The Kelly Hawks baseball team dipped below the .500 mark with an 11-7 loss to Class 2A power South Pemiscot on Thursday.

Tim Schmitt was the losing pitcher for Kelly (6-7), allowing nine runs (five earned) off nine hits and a walk. He struck out three.

The Hawks committed six errors in the game.

"We had four errors in the second inning and allowed four unearned runs and that was the difference in the ballgame," said Kelly head coach Mike Scott. "When you do that then your pitcher feels he needs to throw the perfect pitch. We really didn't give Schmitt a chance in this one."

Justin Simpher pitched three innings of relief, allowing two runs off three hits with three strikeouts.

Spence was the winning pitcher for South Pemiscot (8-6). Martin had two solo home runs for the Bulldogs.

"They're not that bad - they're fundamentally sound," said Scott. "Though I don't think they're as strong as they were last year."

Tyler Schlosser, Drew Moore and Major Burger each had three hits for the Hawks, who had 14 in the game. Moore and Burger also had two RBIs each.

"On a positive note, we hit the ball much better," said Scott. "If we ever get our defense and our bats going in the same game then I feel like we can beat anybody."

Kelly will host Jackson on Monday at 4 p.m.

Charleston 10, Puxico 0

PUXICO - The Charleston Bluejays baseball team evened its record to 7-7 on the season with a 10-0, five-inning shutout of Puxico on Thursday.

Charleston's Dustin Smoot pitched the three-hit shutout, allowing just two walks with eight strikeouts.

He also had two hits and two runs batted in. Nathan Humphrey and Josh Nelson also had two hits each.

"It was a good win for us - we started a little slow but the kids got after once we got going," said Charleston head coach Brent Anderson. "Smoot pitched a real fine game. We played good defense behind him and we had no errors for the second straight game. That's a real positive for us because we've had some games with five and six errors this year."

Charleston will play at Delta on Monday at 4 p.m.

Portageville 3, Hayti 1

HAYTI - The Portageville Bulldogs baseball team used a strong pitching performance from Tyler Boatwright to defeat Hayti 3-1 on Thursday.

Boatwright held the Indians to four hits and one walk with three strikeouts in picking up the complete game win.

"He threw well - he did a good job for us and gave us a chance to win," said Portageville head coach Chris Wilson. "We played errorless baseball behind him and it's a good time to do that with the conference tournament coming up."

Lance Penn led the Bulldogs offensively, going 2-2 with a run scored. Mark Mudd went 2-3, Kyle Ezell was 1-3 with an RBI and Barry Dennison was 1-4 with an RBI.

Portageville (4-8) will play Malden in the Bootheel Conference Tournament on Monday at 1 p.m. at Senath-Hornersville High School.