By Don Abernathy (For OzarksportsZone.com)
When Kickapoo rallied to cut the Willard lead to one run in the sixth inning on Wednesday, Willard coach Scott McGee didn’t see any panic from his veteran squad.
Instead, his Tigers calmly answered the Kickapoo rally with four runs in the next half inning, to beat the Chiefs, 8-3 at Sky Bacon Stadium in Ozark.
“These guys have been in a lot of big games. A lot of these guys have played back-to-back Final Fours and several of them won a state title two years ago,” McGee said.
“We are locked-in on defense right now and both Larsen and Jennings were just so good for us on the mound, and they kept executing pitches.”
Willard left fielder Klayton Kiser broke the game open with a two-run single in the sixth inning giving Willard a 6-3 lead.
Designated hitter Cooper Wilken followed two batters later with a two-run single of his own to put the game out of reach.
“Kiser has been our best offensive player over the course of the season and Wilken has been our second-best, so for those guys to have back-to-back huge runs there was really big for us,” McGee said.
Wilken, who also logs innings as a pitcher for the Tigers, knew just how important those insurance runs were in the sixth.
“Those runs were huge,” Wilken said. “I’m a pitcher also, and it just relaxes the pitcher a lot. Having two extra runs is just huge.”
In the top half of the sixth with Kickapoo trailing 4-1, the Chiefs put runners on with a hit and a walk before first baseman Jalen Brandon doubled home a pair of runs to cut the lead to one.
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Brandon went 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles and three runs batted in.
“Their starter (Larson) had his stuff going early, but when he got a little tired we took advantage of that and put some good at bats together,” Howser said.
“We’ve got to be more consistent at the plate, but all-in-all I thought we competed for seven innings.”
The Chiefs found themselves in a tough spot in the bottom half of the first, where Willard scored four runs off one hit and sent nine batters to the plate.
“Anytime you spot a team four runs on one hit in the first inning, then you are climbing back uphill,” Kickapoo coach Jason Howser said.
“Our guys chipped away at it, but we didn’t quit. We kept battling and it’s nice to see that perseverance from this group.”
Kiser, Wilken, and second baseman Drew Quinlan combined for four hits, two walks, and seven RBIs.
Willard starting pitcher Hayden Larson gave up three runs off five hits and earned the win.
“He pitched really well,” Wilken said. “He has flashed a lot of good innings for us this year, but this was probably his best complete overall game.”
With the victory, Willard improved to 17-8 overall, as Kickapoo fell to 14-13.
