Sixth inning magic lifts Scott City over Bearcats 8-5

sports@standard-democrat.com

DEXTER -- For the second time in as many days, the Scott City Rams used a little sixth-inning magic Thursday to overcome a sluggish start.

Trailing by a pair of runs late in the contest, the Rams got a key double from their cleanup hitter, Ryan Fortner, to ignite a five-run rally that propelled them to an 8-5 win over the Dexter Bearcats.

"You can't say enough about the effort of these kids and the battle in them," Scott City head coach Lance Amick said. "Something bad happens and they seem to find a way to overcome it.

"Down 5-3 going in to the top of the sixth there and come out 8-5 when you leave it. That says something about the kids."

After knotting things up with the Bearcats (4-5) an inning earlier, the Rams (5-1) found themselves down 5-3 following a single off the bat of Sion Pixley that brought in a pair of Dexter runs in the fifth.

Scott City came up in the top of the sixth and loaded the bases with no outs before a passed ball scored Travis Phillips from third to close the Rams deficit to a run.

Just a few pitches later, with runners now on second and third, Fortner sent a double into left-centerfield that cleared the bases and gave his team a 6-5 lead.

By the end of the frame, the Rams added another two insurance runs to their tally off singles from Levi Pettit and Jonathan McFall to go up 8-5.

"We finally started hitting the ball a little bit and got some runners on," Brock said. "When that happens people feed off each others energy."

Coming back to the mound to protect his team's newfound lead, Brett Dirnberger retired all three Bearcat batters he faced on strikeouts, leaving Dexter with one last shot to mount a comeback in the seventh.

Dirnberger went on to walk two of the first three batters he faced giving Dexter hope in the bottom of the seventh as the tying tun came to plate with one out.

Before any damage could be done, however, Dirnberger got an infield pop up and a strikeout to close out his team's fifth win of the year.

"That's his first appearance of the year," Amick said of Dirnberger. "Anytime you step out there on the mound for the first time there's a little bit of nerves and an adjustment you have to make. As soon as he settled down he seemed to be find."

Picking up the win, Dirnberger went three full innings where he allowed two runs on one hit and three walks while fanning five.

Scott City outhit the Bearcats 12-9 with Fortner going 2 for 3 with a triple and the above-mentioned double while drawing a pair of walks. He reached in all five plate appearances driving in three runs and scoring another.

"Fortner so far this year has just been an animal at the plate," Amick said. "You can't say enough about what he's done so far.

"He's one of those guys when he's locked in to that spot where you just sit back and you enjoy watching what he's doing."

Other's contributing to the Rams effort include Pettit, who went 4 for 4 at the plate, while Zach Carlyle and McFall added two hits each. Dirnberger had a triple and a pair of walks.

For Dexter, Cody Neldon was 3 for 4 with a run scored with Brad Potts providing two hits and a walk. Pixley also had two hits, including the single in the fifth that gave the Bearcats their final lead of the night.

"It wasn't a very good loss for us today and not a very good day overall," Dexter head coach Brian Becker said. "We didn't field well, we didn't hit well and our pitchers threw from behind.

"They battled the whole game, but they pitched from behind with the exception of Austin Aldridge. He came in to start the seventh and did a good job for us. He got their three and four hitters out just working ahead of them."

Scott City 100 205 0 - 8

Dexter 200 120 0 - 5

WP -- Brett Dirnberger. LP -- Jason Mattison. Multiple hitters: (S) Ryan Fortner 2-3, Zach Carlyle 2-5, Levi Pettit 4-4, Jonathan McFall 2-3; (D) Cody Neldon 3-4, Brad Potts 2-3, Sion Pixley 2-2. 2B -- (S) Fortner. 3B -- (S) Brett Dirnberger.