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No. 3 Jackson upsets No. 2 Sikeston in extra inning district semifinal
SIKESTON -- Sikeston's three-run barrage in the bottom of the seventh inning saved the season for a moment. Forced to muster another one two innings later, however, just wasn't in the cards.
Storming back from a once 5-0 deficit, the second-seeded Bulldogs eventually succumbed to No. 3 Jackson 8-5 in nine innings during the Class 5, District 1 semifinals in Sikeston.
The Indians pulled off the second upset of the night after watching No. 4 Cape Central knock off top-seeded Poplar Bluff 3-1 in the first game of the day. Jackson (20-12) and Cape Central (15-12) are scheduled to play for a district championship today at 5:30 p.m., weather permitting, at VFW Memorial Stadium.
The Bulldogs, who end the season with a 15-9 record, fought back to tie the game at 5-all during what looked to be its last half inning of the year. They scratched out three runs behind two Jackson errors, one hit and a wild pitch.
Sikeston also had a chance to push across the winning run at second with one out, but came up short.
Following a scoreless eighth, Jackson returned the favor with three runs of its own while Sikeston managed to bring the tying run to the plate.
"We had a lot of guts and a lot of heart," Sikeston coach Alan Scheeter said. "We just came up one run short there in the seventh. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game and that's really all you can ask for. When you're down three going into your last at-bat it's really tough to say all you have to do is score four runs there. Before you know it, we're in a position to win this thing and just couldn't quite get it done."
Gavon Turner, who pitched the final 2 2/3 innings behind Colten Weber's start, earned the win for Jackson. He allowed no runs on no hits while walking three and striking out five. Turner also put the Indians back on top in the ninth with his third hit of the night.
"He was a big time bulldog out there for us," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "You know what you're going to get out of him. When he's at-bat he's going to compete and when he toes the rubber he's coming and ready to go. Very proud of his effort today."
The Indians put two runners on with one out in the top of the ninth before Turner singled to centerfield for Jackson's 6-5 lead. Back to back, perfectly executed squeeze bunts from Tristen Thele and Tristan Burdette tacked on two insurance runs for Jackson before the inning ended.
Sikeston ushered the tying run to the plate in their half of the ninth with runners on first and second. Turner struck out Max Ault in the midst of a sudden downpour of rain that held out during an uncharacteristically chilly May night until that point.
"We were in an easy spot where we don't play very good defense to put our heads down, give up and say its not our night but our guys refused to do that," said Austin. "They stayed up and were ready to compete. Conditions were tough for both teams and I'm really happy about the way we played."
The Bulldogs came into Monday's game with a 1-3 record in extra inning games, having lost to Jackson once already this season in extras in two meetings overall.
"Our mindset was Sikeston," Austin said. "We seen them twice this year and our last game against them was tough for us. That gave us some motivation and some bulletin board material and our kids were ready to play baseball today."
After trailing by five runs after three innings and then 5-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, Sikeston made its charge with the help of a few Jackson errors.
Josh Stinnett reached safely to start Sikeston's rally after a ball caromed off of first baseman Ryan Mize. Trey Smith, who led Sikeston with two hits including a double, pushed across his second RBI of the night to make it 5-3.
Smith later scored on a wild pitch on the fourth ball to Blake Wolferding. Pratt tied the game when a throw from Turner was dropped by Jarrett Newell at second while the Indians tried turning a double play to escape the inning.
"I always like to talk to them before their at-bats and I just told them to never say die, go up and put it on the next man and play for the guy next to you," Scheeter said about his team's seventh-inning rally. "If you see a pitch to hit, get after it. Let's see what we can do. We've been here before and this is nothing new for us."
Following Wolferding's walk, Weber was lifted for Turner. Jackson's starter lasted 6 1/3 innings and gave up five runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks while striking out 10.
"What a fantastic job he did on the mound for us," Austin said. "He was dominating for six innings and in the seventh he really was still on. The fastball was coming on hard and we just didn't really play good defense behind him. Great job on his part. That's one of the better outings I've seen out of him."
Overall, Sikeston struck out 15 times.
"You look at what they're throwing at us with Weber throwing his fastball around 86-87 and then he snaps that curveball off like you wouldn't believe," Scheeter said. "You almost have to sit on pitches and just guess fastball. That's about the only way you're going to hit guys like that unless you have a really, really good scouting report on him. Having only seen him once two months ago is kind of tough to know what he's going to throw. But hats off to those guys. They're both good baseball players. We haven't seen many like that all season."
It was the third time this season Jackson and Sikeston had seen each other and it was the third time the Indians faced Trent Sidwell. Sidwell lasted seven innings and allowed five earned runs on 11 hits. He also struck out four.
Will Gilmer was the losing pitcher after tossing the final two innings. He gave up three runs (one earned) on two hits, one walk and one strikeout.
Knowing what Sidwell brought to the table and witnessing his awkward sidearmed delivery aided Jackson's quick 5-0 start. A double from Braedon Dobbs in the first inning put the Indians ahead 1-0. They poured on four runs in the third on four hits and an error.
The last time Jackson saw Sidwell, the senior held them to five hits and one run during a 2-1 loss.
"Anytime you see a guy three times your bats are going to be better," Austin said. "Even the outs we made were loud outs. I was really proud of the kids for learning from the previous at-bats they had off him."
Sikeston graduates two seniors, Wolferding and Sidwell.
"We only had two seniors, but they're going to be tough to say goodbye to," Scheeter said. "They are really what makes this team go. For the most part, we'll have the same people next year but not the same team. You'll take our No. 3 hitter, our catcher and our best pitcher, it changes the complexion a little bit. Those guys are going to be missed."
Jackson 104 000 003 -- 8 13 3
Sikeston 000 020 300 -- 5 6 2
WP -- Gavon Turner. LP -- Will Gilmer. Multiple hitters: (J) Ryan Mize 2-5, Braedon Dobbs 2-5, Turner 3-5, Tristan Thele 2-5, Drew Brown 2-4; (S) Trey Smith 2-3. 2B: (J) Dobbs; (S) Smith.