By Tyler Thompson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
FAIR GROVE, Mo. — The fans were at near full capacity.
And why not? After all, the host currently resides No. 3 in Class 3. The opponent — Strafford — one slot behind (No. 4) in Class 3.
The rivalry lived up to the billing as Fair Grove junior Jaxon Rowden hurled 6 1/3 innings as his Eagles defeated the Indians 4-0 Wednesday evening in Fair Grove.
“Jaxon did a great job mixing speeds. He attacked early,” said Eagles veteran skipper Christian Overstreet.
Rowden continually utilized his curveball, no matter the count, and had the Indians guessing relative to pitch selection for most of the tilt.
Added Overstreet: “When we had the chance to throw the breaking ball, he could do that and threw well enough we could start pitching these guys [Indians] backwards. It looked as if they were guessing a little bit.”
Guessing they were as the Indians were out in front on some deliveries, yet behind on others as the zone expanded on their swings.
“He has a lot of confidence on the mound and in his stuff,” said Overstreet. “That can go a long way for a pitcher.”
While the pitching was intact, the Eagles’ offense was looking for that one inning, or two, in which to illuminate the scoreboard.
The second time through the order was the recipe on this night as Kade Gallion connected for the RBI single.
In the fourth, six batters came to the dish as the Eagles plated two more on Landon Taylor and Hayden Carver’s back-to-back RBI doubles, giving Rowden and company the cushy 3-0 lead.
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But they weren’t done.
In the fifth, the Eagles added one more on Kyle Fritts’s RBI double.
The offense and defense perfectly complemented Rowden’s outing.
“It is tough to hit,” Overstreet said of the junior’s curveball. “When you have a guy who can throw any pitch in any count, who keeps hitters off balance, he did a great job tonight. We had a nice pace.”
While the offense and pitching are highlighted, the defense was also clean.
A common narrative in Overstreet’s swan song campaign.
“It is an amazing feeling. This year, they have been outstanding. I can come off the mound and know a pop fly is going to be caught,” Rowden said. “I can go to the dugout, knowing a play is going to be made. They are great.”
The aura around campus was palpable throughout the day.
After all, it is Strafford and there isn’t any additional motivation or Hollywood-like speeches that need to be given.
Rowden said he noticed the attendance.
“There is always a big crowd. They show up when we need them to and when Strafford is here, everybody knows it and the atmosphere is amazing. It was a great atmosphere.”
While his résumé was near perfect on this night, the junior hurler said he would have liked to finish the game, but state-mandated pitch counts took the ball out of his hands with two outs to go in the seventh and deciding frame.
“Yeah, really badly,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Rowden had 96 pitches going into the seventh.
Fair Grove advances to 16-2 on the year and has clinched a share of the Mid-Lakes Conference title. The Eagles can claim the title outright with a win over Clever on Monday. Strafford is now 11-5 on the season.
