By Whitney Keith
Marshfield finished last season with three wins. After Tuesday’s 5-4 walk-off win over Reeds Spring, Marshfield moved its record to 5-5 on this season.
“We’re kind of a young club just trying to figure things out,” said Blue Jay coach Tyler Henry. “We have guys playing who haven’t played before at the varsity level.”
Reeds Spring struck first in the contest. Seth Stamps drew a lead-off walk and stole second base. A sacrifice bunt by designated hitter Craig Foster and an error brought Stamps home and left Foster on second. A passed ball brought Foster to third, and then a base hit by Chance Herrman brought in the second run. Herrman then stole second, and another Marshfield error scored him, bringing the score to 3-0.
“We did a good job putting a crooked number up in the first inning,” said Reeds Spring coach Chris Funk.
Scoring was slow for the rest of the outing, which both coaches attributed to strong pitching efforts.
“Our number one pitcher Craig Foster is out due to a possible torn ACL, but Tyler Herzan, who started tonight, did a fabulous job, pitched a good six innings, kept the ball in the zone, did everything we could have asked,” said Funk.
“(Nicholas) Visconte did a great job on the mound. He went five solid innings for us. We got down, but credit to our guys for settling in and battling back,” said Henry.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The score was tied 4-4 until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Reeds Spring had to change pitchers due to the new pitch count restrictions.
The closer for Reeds Spring walked the first two batters, then hit one with a pitch to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Bo Atkison scored the run, leaving the Blue Jays with a 5-4 victory.
“We just have to do a better job, especially tonight, putting the ball in play with runners in scoring position,” said Funk. “We didn’t hit situationally very well, and they did.”
Both teams have a tough COC schedule coming up. Marshfield plays Buffalo on Thursday, then begins a second week of conference play next week with contests against Bolivar and Hollister. Reeds Spring plays Clever on Thursday, followed by Buffalo next Tuesday, Springfield Catholic next Thursday, and New Covenant Academy and Ash Grove on next Saturday.
Marshfield 5
Reeds Spring 4
Marshfield: Logan Yates, Nicholas Visconte, Truett Gardner (RBI), Eric Nunn (RBI)
Reeds Spring: Seth Stamps (RBI), Chance Herrman (2, RBI), Noah Briley, Carter Sadler, Logan Bauer (2, RBI)
