Sikeston falls to Mayfield

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Senior American Legion Post 114 baseball team fell to 7-5 on the season with a 10-5 loss to Mayfield on Tuesday at VFW Stadium.

Sikeston fell behind early in the contest as Mayfield tallied a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.

Sikeston never could recover from the early deficit as Mayfield led by as much as 8-0 before Post 114 could scratch a run.

Missed scoring opportunities by Sikeston was part of the problem.

"We had the bases loaded with one out and we had three and four at the plate and we didn't come through -- that was big," said Sikeston coach Todd Baker. "That was a big key to the game. It was 5-0 and if we get a big hit there we can get it to 5-2 or even 5-3. We didn't get the hits when we needed to. We hit the ball at times and had the one big inning, but other than that we didn't hit the ball."

Mayfield pounded out 12 hits in the game, including four doubles. Mayfield coach Todd Smith said the power surge was commonplace with his team.

"We've been scoring runs like that all year," said Smith. "We hit the ball well and we've been doing it all year. We've been hitting the ball like that every game we play."

Mayfield scored its first run when Sikeston's Josh Stevens misplayed a hard hit ball to third, allowing Tyler Hall to score. Kenny Ford scored on Andrew Reid's single.

Mayfield (8-3) extended the lead to 3-0 in the second on Hall's run-scoring single.

Mayfield scored two more runs in the third. Blake Rust brought home a run with a double and Reid had another run-scoring single to extend the lead to 5-0.

Sikeston's big chance to make it a close game was lost in the third inning when they had the bases loaded with one out. Back-to-back popups squelched the rally.

Mayfield blew the game open in the fifth with three more runs. Steven Riley had an RBI-single and Eric Wilson had a two-run double.

Sikeston broke the shutout with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to get back in the game. Dexter Moore scored on a wild pitch. Dustin Barker and Tyler Baker each had RBI-singles and Stevens had a two-run single to make it 8-5.

Mayfield responded with two more runs in the top of the seventh. Wilson plated two more runs with a single.

Sikeston's Cody Black was the losing pitcher in six-plus innings pitched. Barker threw the final inning in relief.

Mayfield's Mitchell Baungardner was the winning pitcher in five-plus innings pitched. Wilson threw the final two innings in relief.

The two pitchers limited Sikeston to just six hits.

"We threw some guys that don't get to pitch quite as much and we backed them up with some good defense," said Smith. "We only had one or two strikeouts and our defense took care of the rest."

Wilson paced the Mayfield offense by going 3-4 with four RBIs. Rust went 2-3 with two RBIs, Reid was 2-4 with two RBIs and Riley was 2-4 with an RBI. Ford also collected two hits with a run scored.

Sikeston was led in hitting by Moore's two hits. Barker and Baker each had one RBI and Stevens had two RBIs. Black added a single.

"When we get everybody here and everybody healthy I think we're going to be okay," said Baker. "Mayfield just hit the ball and we didn't. That team was a good hitting team and they were a decent defensive team. They made plays as well."

Sikeston defeated Jackson in Monday night's second game of the doubleheader, 20-7. Seth Baker was the winning pitcher for Post 114.