By Joey Morgan
Springfield, Mo. — Branson came out swinging to beat Springfield Catholic 8-6 Monday.
The Pirates scored four runs in the first inning to grab an early lead over the Irish, with three of those runs courtesy of Kap Johnson.
“He threw me a fastball and I’m a fastball hitter so I saw an opportunity to get some runs in early for us,” Johnson said.
Springfield Catholic had a slow start at the plate, being held scoreless the first two innings. That all changed when a Will Duff ground ball to Branson pitcher Bryce Burtless resulted in a throwing error, scoring Catholic’s first run. Catholic was able to bag two more runs with a triple from Zach Cole, pulling within 4-3 of Branson,
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The Fighting Irish were held scoreless in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings as Burtless continued to work on the mound.
The luck of the Irish changed in the seventh as two runners got on base for Duff, who hit a crushing three-run home run with two outs that brought the Irish within two. Burtless remained confident on the mound and was able to bring the game to a close, sealing the win for the Pirates.
“We want to try to win every ball game to get better. It was a non-conference game against Catholic and they certainly produce quality teams every year. We want to play the best we can play until we get into conference play next week,” Branson head coach Troy Nimmo said.
Burtless was able to go the distance, pitching a complete game to capture the win.
“He did a good job. He is our senior ace who has started since he was a sophomore for us. He kept his pitch count down and had some quick innings that enabled him to go the distance. I think going into the seventh inning he was starting at 90 pitches and had 15 left so we had a guy in the pen ready to go. He has been in this situation plenty of times and we were confident that he could finish the game,” Nimmo said.
“Today was a fun because it was an opportunity to go out there and throw what I have. I was nervous at first but once I got the first inning out of the way I realized what I could control. I had my fastball, slider, and change-up all working for me. This has not happened very often for me,” Burtless said.
“Coming into the game I knew I needed to work on attacking the zone and get something done in the first three pitches, which is something I have struggled with this season already but today I felt I could get ahead and utilized my slider.”
Springfield Catholic looks to capture a win in the game against Aurora on Wednesday after Monday’s loss.
