The Stockton Tigers were on the ropes briefly on Thursday, but only briefly.
Perhaps distracted by the forthcoming Senior Night ceremonies honoring ten of their players, the Class 3 second-ranked Tigers gave up four runs in the top of the first inning to the Greenfield Wildcats; but it would be all Stockton (21-4) after that as the Pride knocked off the Cats 6-4 in the regular season finale for both teams.
Stockton pitcher Collin Burns hit Jalen Roby with the very first pitch of the ballgame, which set the tone for the early Greenfield rally. Gage Burns followed by reaching on an error and Tristan Long singled to load the bases. Sawyer Dodd’s grounder to third was botched, allowing Roby to score. After a strikeout to Roy Beeson, Colin White tripled to the right field corner to put Greenfield (13-9) up 4-0.
The Tigers got a run back in the bottom of the first as Alex Wheeler drew a walk and advanced to second as Collin Burns earned a free pass from Long. Wheeler took third on a wild pitch and scored on Eli Hubbard’s infield hit.
“We might have been a little bit nervous, but we came out of it after that inning,” Hubbard said. “We just said we can and took care of business.”
“It’s a pretty typical Senior Night from what I’ve seen,” said Stockton coach Darin Henderson. “Anytime you have something extra going on, it’s a distraction for your guys. As soon as that first inning was over, we got refocused and competed well.”
Wheeler would kickstart a 3-run Stockton third inning by legging out a bouncer back to the box and then stealing second. Colton Brown walked and Collin Burns doubled to left center to drive in Wheeler. Hubbard’s double to left brought in two runs to tie the nonconference matchup at 4-4.
In the fifth, Burns led off with a single to left field and Hubbard added his third knock of the night to right field. Ryan Ankrom lined out as Burns moved to third. Zak Burns drove the go-ahead run in and stole second. Before the next batter came up, Burns took off for second base and was easily picked off, but that allowed Mason Brown (courtesy running for Hubbard) to add an insurance run on the delayed double steal.
Hubbard earned the win in relief of Burns, striking out five in three innings.
He described his mindset in taking the hill as “just throw strikes, get outs, and let the defense do the work.”
Greenfield coach Nick Engleman was pleased with his team’s effort, even in defeat.
“Our guys are playing with a chip on their shoulder,” said Engleman, a Stockton alum. “We’re a lot better than we’ve been playing the last two weeks, and we proved it today.
The Tigers are off until Monday as they await the winner of Friday’s Clever/Diamond game in the first round of the Ash Grove district. The Wildcats play Bronaugh Monday in the semifinals of Class 1 District 6 at Lockwood.
Greenfield 400 000 0—4 4 0
Stockton 103 020 x—6 9 2
Tristan Long, Jalen Roby (4) & Sawyer Dodd; Collin Burns, Eli Hubbard (5) & Alex Wheeler
Hits: Greenfield—Gage Burns, Tristan Long 2 (2B), Collin White (3B); Stockton—Jake Wheeler, Alex Wheeler, Collin Burns 2 (2B), Eli Hubbard 3 (2B), Connor Brown, Garret Burns.
