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Dexter belts out 12 hits in 8-0 win over Jays
DEXTER -- With his team's big one-run win over Sikeston coming a day earlier, Dexter Bearcat head coach Brian Becker had concerns his team might suffer a letdown when visiting Charleston came to town on Tuesday.
Those fears were alleviated, however, when the Bearcats belted out 12 hits to beat the Bluejays 8-0 for their eighth win of the season.
"This is kind of a trap game for us," Bearcats' head coach Brian Becker said. "We're coming off a great win (Monday) against Sikeston and Charleston is a team coming in here that had been struggling.
"But this is high school baseball and you can't take anything for granted. You have to make sure you come ready to play everyday and I thought our kids did a good job of that."
After a scoreless first inning, Alex Cliff broke things open for Dexter by belting out a go-ahead solo home run past the left field fence to start the bottom of the second.
In the next inning, five-straight Bearcats came around to score in what was easily the biggest rally of the afternoon.
Following an initial out, Brad Potts reached on a walk before stealing second. A single up the middle by Chase Young scored Potts from second to kick-start the rally and put the Bearcats up 2-0.
Shortly after, Young and Jordan Miller pulled off a double steal of second and third base before a misplayed ball in left field scored Young.
A single by D.J. Dowdy scored Dexter's third run of the frame before Owen Flowers drove in runners from second and third base with a grounder up the middle to cap the rally and give the Bearcats a 6-0 advantage.
"It starts out we kick a few balls," Charleston head coach Michael Minner said of the third inning. "I talked to our pitcher and he understands it's a situation where we have the guy 0-2 and if he hits a home run, he hits a home run.
"But we wind up walking him and then all of the sudden our focus changes. Then a guy gets a hit and we kick one. When I went out there I said, 'you know those walks are going to score.' I think we walked three today and everyone of them scored."
Though the Bluejays fought to keep the mercy-rule out of effect, Dexter added to its lead with a run in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Starting the bottom of the fourth off with a single, Potts stole second before coming home on a hit to left field by Miller.
Back up in the fifth, Potts lined a shot to right field to score Cody Neldon from third base for the Bearcats final run of the contest.
While Dexter's offense cruised, starting pitcher Overall provided a more than effective seven innings on the mound. In shutting out the Bluejays, Overall allowed one hit and three walks while striking out 11.
"He did a good job," Becker said. "He hadn't thrown in awhile so I wanted to put him out there and see what he'd do today. I thought his location was pretty good for the most part and he did what we needed to on the mound."
Charleston lone hit came in the first inning when D.J. Adams singled to right field to put runners on first and second before a strikeout ended the scoring threat.
Charleston's next best scoring opportunity came in the seventh when a walk and a hit batter with two outs left the Bluejays a chance to breakup the shutout. Before any damage could be done, a groundout to the second baseman ended the game.
"Today I'm pleased," Minner said. "That's a sign we're getting better. If we had played them two weeks ago they would have beaten us 40-0. That's a good baseball team that just knocked off Sikeston and we feel like if we make a couple plays then it's 3-0."
With 12 hits on the contest Dexter was led by Potts who went 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored while driving in a run. In his only other at bat Potts drew a walk to reach base four times on the game.
Cliff and Dowdy each had two hits for the Bearcats, including Cliff's solo home run to put Dexter on top.
Dexter now stands at 8-3 while Charleston falls to 1-9.
Charleston 000 000 0 - 0 1 3
Dexter 015 110 x - 8 12 0
WP -- Josh Overall. LP -- Ryan Houseman. Multiple hitters: (D) Brad Potts 3-3, Alex Cliff 2-4, D.J. Dowdy 2-4. 2B -- (D) Potts. HR -- (D) Cliff.