The Webb City Cardinals used a strong seventh inning to defeat the Branson Pirates, 6-5, on Tuesday night.
Webb City scored the first run of the game in the second inning when Calem Nutting scored on a fielder’s choice, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Branson answered in the third when Chad Reusch drove in Zac Funderburk with a line drive to the outfield but was thrown out when he overran first base.
Webb City pitcher Tanner Lane did not have his best stuff tonight but managed to limit the Pirates’ runs. He would not allow a walk in his six innings of work. He scattered six hits through his six innings.
“My catcher did a great job of calling the game,” said Lane. “I didn’t think my stuff was the best at times but I just fought through it. They worked behind me really well. At times we struggled a little bit, but for the most part they did really good and they backed me up really well. I kept my fastball low, and then moving it in and out, and then at eye level. We did that on purpose to set up for a curveball or changeup. I’d say my changeup is my best pitch but it wasn’t the best today. Fastball was working good and I got the curveball to work. Most of the time it’s the changeup but it wasn’t tonight.”
Branson scored three more runs to take a 4-1 lead into the top of the seventh. That is where the game fell apart for the Pirates. Webb City leadoff hitter Trey Gibson was hit by a pitch. The next hitter, Colton Adams, was walked, giving the Cardinals two on with no outs and the tying run at the plate. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and Tanner Jones hit a sacrifice fly to center field, driving in a run. Webb City’s next hitter grounded out to the third baseman and the Cardinals were down to their last out. Kole Deadmond reached first on a Branson error. Andrew Greek loaded the bases with a single, setting the stage for Dack Sanborn’s heroics.
Sanborn hit a deep fly ball to right centerfield that the Branson centerfielder could not corral. Two runs scored, giving Webb City the lead. The Cardinals scored a total of five runs in the inning, giving them a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
“The last inning we pulled together five runs to win,” said Sanborn. “When I got that hit, I thought it was a double and then I saw him get to it and I thought he had it, and then he missed it.”
Branson did not go down without a fight. Funderburk was hit by a pitch as he led off the inning. He came around to score on a double by Reusch, putting Reusch at second and the tying run at the plate. Webb City had changed pitchers at the beginning of the inning, replacing Lane with junior Logan VanWey. VanWey pitched around the double, stranding him at second to end the game.
On changing his pitcher, Webb City coach Chris Taylor said “They were back to the top of the order and they’d all seen Lane a few times. He did do a real good job of getting out of some situations, but Branson did a great job. When Branson got guys on second it seemed like they always got a big hit, so I thought maybe the mixture of another guy might throw them off a little. VanWey did a good job of throwing them off and picking it up.”
So far this season, Branson has not been able to hold many leads after leading most of the game, something that has frustrated coach Troy Nimmo.
“We’re having a hard time getting those last three outs,” said Nimmo. “I don’t know why, this group has been through it many times, played a lot of games. They play loose but we get to that seventh inning sometimes and can’t finish it. That was the story of it today.”
Lane and Branson’s Bryce Burtless each pitched nice ballgames for their clubs.
“Bryce pitched a great game for us and held a very good hitting team down,” said Nimmo. “In the seventh, Bryce’s pitch count was 80 and he controlled the game—it was his to lose. If he had been at 100 pitches or something, maybe we would have taken him out but he was in control and at 80 pitches at the time it was his to finish. We’ve got to help him out, we’ve got to make plays behind him.”
“I feel like there’ve been times where we have not played a complete game,” said Taylor. “We did a good job of competing. Making errors is frustrating, especially in a game against a good team. You’re not going to get very many opportunities and when you do you need to take advantage of them. Resiliency, that’s been kind of a theme the last few weeks. It was a battle tonight.”
Webb City 6 Branson 5
Webb City 010 000 5— 6
Branson 001 201 1— 5
