By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Tuesday’s conference opener in Nevada featured two teams expected to vie for the Big 8 West title – and a compelling baseball game.
In the end it was visiting McDonald County that earned its first conference win, after the Mustangs overcame an early 3-0 deficit and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to take a 4-3 victory.
“That’s a great high school baseball game,” McDonald County coach Heath Alumbaugh said. “You’ve got two No. 1’s on the mound and (Case) Sanderson pitched his butt off right there. You couldn’t ask for any more from a high school baseball game on either side.”
Sanderson, Nevada’s left-handed ace, struck out eight batters in the game, but McDonald County starter Weston Gordon was just as good. After a three-run first inning, Gordon finished the game with six scoreless frames and also fanned eight hitters.
The difference on Tuesday was McDonald County’s ability to manufacture runs.
It was a 3-2 game going into the fifth and Jacob Gordon reached on an error with one out – he was replaced by pinch runner Angel Ruiz, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Devin Stone. And then Ruiz scored to tie the game on a throwing error.
In the seventh, Fischer Sanny lined a single to center to lead off – he was replaced by pinch runner Hayden Lett, who advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Gordon. He scored with two outs on a bloop single from Destyn Dowd.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“We talked about that at the beginning of the year, sometimes we’re going to have to manufacture runs and I believe we did that twice,” Alumbaugh said. “We get bunts down, we hustle down the line and put a little pressure on the defense and then come through with a two-out hit when we need it.”
“We know Weston Gordon’s always going to give us a great start on the mound and that’s what he did,” he said. “A little rocky in the first but then he settled right in and threw a ton of strikes. We know defensively we can play and that’s what our guys did.”
Nevada’s Sanderson doubled in Cade Beshore, who led off with a walk, in the bottom of the first and later scored on a single by Caiden Klump. He later scored on a throwing error to make it 3-0.
The Mustangs scored two in the top of the second. Weston Gordon walked, Jack Parnell doubled and Sanny drove in one with a groundout. Jacob Gordon followed by reaching on an error and then got caught in a rundown long enough for Parnell to make it home.
After that, it was mostly a pitcher’s duel. Gordon retired eight in a row at one point and struck out the side in the fourth. He allowed a walk in the fifth and worked around an infield error.
He was in some trouble in the sixth when two singles put runners on first and second with just one out. But Gordon fielded a grounder in front of the mound and threw to second to start an inning-ending double play.
McDonald County improved to 9-5 with the win, its fifth in a row, while Nevada dropped to 7-5.
“We’ve kind of found a little bit of a groove but you know how the game of baseball is, the second you think you’ve got something it’ll humble you so we’ve just got to stay hungry,” Alumbaugh said.
“The Big 8 West is loaded up,” he said. “There’s nobody you can go in and say this is an easy game. That’s the beauty of the Big 8 and that’s why we love playing in it. To come out and get the first one and be 1-0 in the conference is huge.”
McDonald County travels to Lamar on Thursday, while Nevada heads to Monett.
