Sikeston falls to Mineral Area in tourney opener

CHAFFEE -- Opening up the 9-and-under Missouri State Cal Ripken Baseball Tournament on Thursday, the Sikeston All-Stars saw a pair of rough innings against the Mineral Area National Division team lead to a 16-7 loss.

"They definitely came through with those three runs in the fifth to keep it alive," Sikeston manager Jared Self said of his team. "We just made too many mental mistakes and beat ourselves. That was really the story of our game."

Trailing 2-1 after three innings of play, the All-Stars saw things turn south in the top of the fourth when Mineral Area kicked off the first of back-to-back monster rallies.

By combining for five hits in the frame Mineral Area was able to plate a total of five runs to pull away at 7-1.

The All-Stars responded with two runs of their own in the home half of the innings, but another seven runs scored by Mineral Area in the fifth put Sikeston firmly in their rearview.

In danger of losing via the mercy rule as they now trailed by 11, Sikeston kept their hopes alive with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to close their deficit to eight at 14-6.

Unfortunately for the All-Stars, in the sixth and final frame, Mineral Area plated its final two runners of the night while Sikeston added one last run to make up the final.

Leading Sikeston's five-hit effort, Barrett Davis had a triple that represented the team's only extra-base hit. Tyler Gilmer and Heath McCain II both collected a single and a pair of walks while Quentin Anthony had a single and a walk.

Justin Church and Nolan Self added a single and walk respectively to the All-Stars' cause.

With the loss, Sikeston falls to the loser's bracket in the double-elimination tournament. They will play the winner of the Boonville/Mineral Area America Division game today at noon. If the All-Stars can get past that, they'll play again at 4 p.m.

Though he hopes they learn from their mistakes, Self wants his team to realize that in Friday's contest they'll start with a clean slate.

"You can dwell on it now that the game is over," he said. "Think about what you did wrong. Get mad or upset or whatever it is you do to deal with it then forget about it. Tomorrow's a brand new day.

"You don't want them repeating the same thing, so they need to think about it and realize what happened. Then they can forget it and come out and play like I know they can."

In other tournament action, Scott County rode out a wild finish to a 10-9 win over Carthage.

Serving as the visiting team, Scott County held a respectable 10-7 lead going into the bottom of the sixth-and-final inning. Things took a turn for the worse when Carthage took advantage of a couple walks and a hit by Kaden Kraliceck to plate two runs and close to within a run.

With Kraliceck on third base, representing the tying run, and still only one out Carthage looked to have to upper hand in forcing extra-innings. By striking out the next two batters, however, Scott County was able to strand the runner and seal the win.

Never trailing in the contest, Scott County was able to put two runs on the board in all but the fifth inning. After taking a slim 8-7 advantage into the sixth frame, it was their final two-run rally, in the top of the sixth, that proved to be the game-winner.

Leading Scott County's 10-hit attack was Luke Nichols, who went 3 for 3 at the plate while reaching in all four plate appearances. He had a double and triple in the contest and scored four runs, including the eventual game-winner.

Others helping Scott County's cause include Tyson Loper and Ryan Friga with two hits each. Joe McClain and Andrew Hicks had a double apiece.