June 4, 2014
Class 3 semifinal slips away from NMCC baseball team
sports@standard-democrat.com O'FALLON -- Nearly everything had gone their way up until now. Big hits came, plays were made and the wins kept coming. But all that changed as New Madrid County Central's improbable run to a state championship was derailed at T.R. Hughes Ball Park in O'Fallon Tuesday by O'Fallon Christian during the MSHSAA Class 3 state semifinal game...
By Chris Pobst - Standard Democrat
sports@standard-democrat.com
O'FALLON -- Nearly everything had gone their way up until now. Big hits came, plays were made and the wins kept coming.
But all that changed as New Madrid County Central's improbable run to a state championship was derailed at T.R. Hughes Ball Park in O'Fallon Tuesday by O'Fallon Christian during the MSHSAA Class 3 state semifinal game.
Christian scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning which was just enough to win 4-3 and leave NMCC without a chance to play for a state title for the second time in as many years.
"We missed a lot of opportunities," NMCC head coach Joe McClarty said. "We had plenty of opportunities to win the ball game. They kicked it around a little bit, we had some walks and we just couldn't come up with the big hit which is something we've been able to do the last few ball games."
New Madrid County Central will take on Fatima, who lost 6-4 to Springfield Catholic during the first semifinal game, this morning at 10:30 a.m. for third place.
Christian, as of press time, combined for a no-hitter between its two pitchers Brendan Guilliams and Jeanne Lucas. McClarty filed for an appeal following the game stating that a hit taken away from Austin Godwin and officially scored an error should have been kept as a hit. A decision should be announced today.
Though that particular hit in question would erase NMCC's third no-hit performance this season, the Eagles would have liked to scatter a few more against Christian.
NMCC, who were without senior starters Austin Lynn and Dylan Milisits due to a senior trip, left nine runners on base and were given plenty of extra chances by Christian who committed five errors on the day. They were also beneficiaries of another superb start by freshman Palmer Campbell, who pitched a complete game allowing just two earned runs on four hits and five walks. He also struck out six and had a pitch count of 97.
"It's a tough one to swallow," Campbell said. "We didn't really swing the bats real well and if we would have gotten a couple hits we could have scored a few more runs. We played hard and we battled and that's what matters. We played a tough game and it just didn't go our way."
"That's what we're going to get with him," McClarty added. "He's going to throw strikes and he's going to walk a few here and there...freshman. On a stage like this he wasn't bothered at all. Just a great job by him."
The deciding blow for NMCC (15-14) came in the bottom of the sixth.
With the score tied at 2-2, Christian (18-10) once again threatened with runners on first and third and two outs already recorded. Campbell had gotten out of jams like this for most of the night but a fly ball to right-centerfield brought center fielder Kiel Causey and right fielder Daniel Manley close together as the ball descended.
As Causey called off Manley for the catch, Manley slid to try and avoid Causey all together. But Manley's feet clipped Causey the same time the ball hit the center fielder's glove causing the ball to fall to the ground. Christian's Kyle Baumann and Daniel Davis scored on the play giving O'Fallon a 4-2 lead.
"Manley had a bead on it and so did Causey," said McClarty, who was seen comforting a disheartened Causey following the game. "Centerfield's got charge out there and when he started to call for it Manley started to let up and his feet slid out from underneath him. He kind of knocked Kiel off balance there and Kiel dropped the ball. Just a bad break. Two kids going hard after the baseball and that just happens sometimes."
Down by two runs, NMCC made a final push to tie the game in its half of the seventh inning which started with three-straight walks to Jake Reed, Campbell and Gage Silman in that order to load the bases with no outs and Austin Godwin at the dish.
A hit to Christian first baseman Sam Lucas coaxed a fielder's choice play to get the force out at home to preserve the two-run lead. Garrison Keene then stepped to the plate and drove a deep fly ball to left field that was nabbed by a diving catch from Jordan Norwine.
Drew Pikey, Palmer's courtesy runner, tagged up at third and made the trek home to trim Christian's advantage to 4-3.
Next, chaos ensued.
The throw back into the infield to third following Norwine's catch was misinterpreted by the Christian dugout and its fans as a double play. Christian head coach Jarrett Reardon thought that the third base umpire's hand in the air meant that Pikey did not tag up at third and was double-off. The bench emptied in celebration and the crowd was frenzied thinking the game was over. Soon after, however, play resumed with one out still left to get.
"We thought (Pikey) left early and we saw his hand up thinking we had a double play," Reardon said. "We were a bit confused after the catch."
Christian was able to officially celebrate it's berth into the championship game a few pitches later when Lucas caught NMCC's Tyler Sprouse looking to end the game.
"We're definitely excited," Reardon said. "We definitely hadn't committed as many errors as we did tonight lately. We kept our poise and pulled out a good win."
This was NMCC's third-straight, one-run game it's played in this postseason since it's sectional win against Scott City. This time, however, the Eagles were on the losing end.
"They haven't quit all year and we didn't quit again today," McClarty said. "We were down two and we did get a run back there in the seventh and we had the bases loaded. We had good at-bats and the kids played hard, but we were just one hit short today."
NMCC started strong with two runs in the top of the first inning. Reed walked to start the game and then scored during a fielder's choice that ended up being Christian's first of five defensive errors. Following a walk to Garrison Keene to load the bases, Sprouse hit a sacrifice fly that put NMCC ahead 2-0 in the blink of an eye.
They held that lead until the bottom of the third.
Campbell began the inning with a leadoff walk but was able to get a strikeout and an outfield assist from Godwin in right field to cut down a runner at second for the second out of the inning. But a deep fly ball to right-center by Christian's Cory Canterbury resulted in a triple and two runs scored that tied the game at 2-all.
That score held until the bottom of the sixth when O'Fallon scored it's two, eventual, game-winning runs.
Lucas got the win for Christian after pitching two innings and striking out four. Guilliams was the starter who pitched the first five innings giving up two unearned runs on six walks.
"They threw a kid that kept the ball away from us," said McClarty. "We were rolling over on everything and we couldn't get our timing down. We had some good at-bats and we hit the ball hard, we just couldn't get anything to fall right there at the end.
"We handled the pressure very well. They just came up with one big hit and we had one big error. That was the ball game what there."
NMCC 200 000 1 -- 3 0 2
Christian 002 002 x -- 4 4 5
WP -- Jeanne Lucas. LP -- Palmer Campbell. 3B: (C) Cory Canterbury.
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