By Tyler Thompson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
CLEVER — The adage states it’s not how one starts but rather how one finishes.
For the Fair Grove Eagles baseball team, the latter sums up their performance at the Clever Right Off The Bat Tournament, where they defeated Aurora, 4-0, Saturday to claim the championship.
Aurora was the last team standing one year ago.
On Saturday, it was a pitchers’ duel on the bump, as the two state-ranked teams searched for offense.
While the Houn’ Dawgs put ducks on the pond early and often, finishing remains a work in progress for the Class 4, eighth-ranked unit.
Aurora stranded seven runners in the first three innings.
For the Eagles, they’d had enough searching and busted out for three runs in the fourth frame and one more in the sixth on Landon Taylor’s RBI single.
To commence the scoring in the fourth, Kade Gallion sized up his pitch, connecting for the RBI double.
Stepping into the box moments later, Garin Geitz dug in and singled in two runs.
The Eagles did what they had to: display patience at the dish and strike first.
“This is why we are in this tournament. Great competition and games like this … it prepares you for districts,” said head coach Christian Overstreet.
The veteran skippers know one another well, very well, in fact, as the Eagles soared back and defeated James Hoffman’s Aurora club just four days ago, besting the Dawgs 11-7.
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“We know all about the Aurora baseball program,” added Overstreet. “When we beat them on Tuesday, my message was: ‘They have a lot of pride. For us to beat them on their field, you have to expect their best. They have a really good ballclub.”
Situational hitting and the bullpen are highly credited for the tournament championship, Overstreet said.
“Mixing pitches, throwing strikes,” Overstreet said. “Through four games our situational hitting and baserunning have been really good, too. It has helped us.”
Logan Daniels was credited with the save, as he and counterpart Geitz combined for two hits allowed. Geitz was credited with the win.
Geitz’s line: 4 IP, 2 H, 9K and 8 BB.
Overstreet names a team MVP after each win, and the tournament didn’t deviate from the norm.
Overstreet named Gallion the MVP.
Gallion took a moment to reflect on the tournament and his Eagles’ 5-0 record to open the season.
“I feel like we are at the top of Class 3. We just beat a good Class 4 team,” he said. “We beat a lot of other good teams.”
Many identities are at the forefront of the 2022 Eagles program, Gallion said, but mentality may the frontrunner this spring.
“We can really hit the ball. We hit the ball well. We just don’t want to lose. That’s a big part of our game,” he said.
For the Houn’ Dawgs, Kelton Brown went the distance but took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits.
Aurora stranded 12 runners and committed three errors.
Previously in the tournament, the Eagles defeated Aurora, 11-7; 15-0 win over Buffalo; and 13-3 over Clever en route to the championship.
