By Brock Sisney (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
JOPLIN — The Seneca Indians, behind a four-hit gem from senior pitcher Lance Stephens and some aggressive baserunning and timely hitting throughout, earned their first district title since 2013 with a commanding 10-1 victory Wednesday evening over the Nevada Tigers at historic Joe Becker Stadium.
Seneca, who lost twice earlier in the season against Nevada (3-1 in tournament play, 16-5 in conference play), improved to 16-11 overall and the Indians await the Class 4, District 11 winner — Big 8 East rivals Aurora (17-7) and Hollister (22-5) battle Thursday.
Stephens went the first three without surrendering a hit and gave up two hits in both the fourth and fifth, but the Indians limited the Tigers to only a single run. Apparently even stronger late in the game, Stephens retired Nevada in order in the sixth and seventh.
“He’s thrown well for us all season,” Seneca head coach Chris Yust said. “When he’s on, he’s got four pitches that he can throw for a strike. He keeps guys off-balance and he did that today. The defense played well behind him. They hit some balls hard and we made the plays early. This is the third time Lance has pitched against them this year, so we gave him the ball and he was ready to go.”
Stephens had a particularly rough outing in the 16-5 loss to Nevada in late April, but he was the one in control Wednesday in the biggest game of his life so far.
Keep in mind Stephens stymied a Nevada offense that scored at least 10 runs eight times during a 19-7 season. The Indians slowed down Nevada better than just about everybody this season, except for Monett and McDonald County, who both shut out the Tigers.
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Fellow senior Lucas Marrs came through with a pair of two-run hits, a double in the second and a single in the sixth, and finished with three overall. The Indians scored one in the first, two in the second, one in the third, one in the fifth, four in the sixth, and one in the seventh.
Seneca plated half of their runs against Nevada starter Cole Sanderson, four against reliever Lane Wilson, and one more against reliever Eli Cheaney.
“He came up focused and hit the ball back up the middle where he needed to,” Yust said of Marrs. “Pulled one down the line, got one in, and with hands in, he did a great job at the plate. Their pitcher (Sanderson) does a great job, he’s a good pitcher, and the kids did a good job against him.”
Marrs set the tone for Seneca right from the start with a leadoff single and with two outs and runners at the corners, Nevada caught Titus Atkins in a rundown between first and second. Marrs decided that he would break for home and he beat shortstop Cheaney’s throw for the first run of the contest.
The Indians stole seven bases and their runners gave their hitters several RBI opportunities. For example, Sebastian Middick singled leading off the third, stole second and third, and scored on a Drew Sampson RBI single.
“We’re aggressive on the bases,” Yust said. “Put pressure on them, make them make plays, and good things happen.”
The Indians scored their first three runs with two outs — in the second, No. 8 hitter Lincoln Renfro singled to center and No. 9 Tanner Nesvold worked a walk, then Marrs brought them both home with a double down the left-field line.
Seneca went down in order in the fourth, but that was the only smooth inning for any Nevada pitcher all night.
Atkins hit RBI singles in the fifth and sixth and Conner Ackerson’s RBI single in the seventh closed out the scoring. Coming off the bench, senior Calvin DePriest just missed a hit that would have given Seneca a walk-off run-rule victory.
The Indians have 10 seniors listed on their roster and several of them led the way in the district title game.
“These guys have worked hard all year,” Yust said. “We’ve been in every game, right there, and gave us a chance to win it. They deserve it.”
