By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
OZARK – There have not been very many times this season where the Stockton baseball team has surrendered a big lead, but things don’t usually end well whenever it does happen.
Monday’s rollercoaster of a game finally put a stop to that trend.
The Tigers blew an early four-run lead, but rallied back from a pair of deficits to outlast Forsyth in a wild 12-10 slugfest at Sky Bacon Stadium, the venue formerly known as U.S. Ballpark.
Stockton took the lead for good with a six-run fifth inning, then sophomore Layne Cahill closed things out with a six-out save as the Tigers prevailed in a battle of state-ranked Class 3 teams.
“We hadn’t done that yet this year,” Stockton coach Darin Henderson said. “We got up on teams, they came back and we kind of laid down.That was really big to see today, that we were going out and competing regardless of what the scoreboard said.”
The scoreboard was kind to the No. 7 Tigers (13-4) early in the game, as they erupted for four runs in the top of the second inning. But the No. 9 Panthers (12-5) responded with six runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, chasing starter Kolten Goodman.
“Sometimes when another team gets up on us, we want to kind of lay down a little bit,” Henderson said. “But we did not do that today. I hope that’s a trend that continues.”
Cade Johnson scored on a third-inning error — one of four credited to the Panthers on the afternoon — and Easton Hubbard came home on a wild pitch in the fourth inning to tie it at 6.
Braxton Gross restored Forsyth’s lead in the bottom of the fourth, as his RBI single made it 7-6.
But that set the stage for Stockton’s dominant fifth inning, when the first seven batters all reached base safely — and six of them came around to score.
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The Tigers ended the pivotal inning with six runs on just three hits, capitalizing on a trio of walks, a hit batsman and a fielding error to shift the momentum of the game.
“That’s who we are,” Henderson said. “It’s a different day. It’s a different guy. We can all hit. We put pressure on the defense. We just compete and that’s who we are. We don’t have any superstars out there, but we get after it and we are doing it for each other.”
That approach has helped the Tigers win district championships in five of the past seven seasons, including a run to the state quarterfinals a year ago.
“We have the dirt-bag mentality,” Stockton senior Cade Mehl said. “We always try to play with everything we’ve got in the field and I think a lot of these boys are starting to get used to the culture behind this baseball team and just playing with all our hearts and leaving it all in the field.”
In many circles, dirtbag is a pejorative term. But the Tigers have the phrase “Dirt Bags” embroidered on the back of their baseball caps, wearing their identity as a badge of honor.
“It’s mainly just being gritty,” Mehl added. “You’re playing with everything you’ve got. Every pitch counts. You’re just giving it your all every single play.”
Five sophomores and a freshman saw time for Stockton on Monday, but they’re already playing above their years. After Forsyth rallied for three runs in the fifth inning to make it 12-10, Henderson handed the ball to Cahill and tasked him with preserving the victory.
“Just throw strikes,” Cahill said. “I have a defense that will make plays behind me.”
The sophomore gave the defense a bit of a rest. He allowed just one hit in two innings, striking out four of the seven batters he saw.
“I promised Layne he was going to be the closer and that’s the first time he’s got to do it all year,” Henderson said. “I was really proud of him for stepping up and getting those outs there.”
The Tigers haven’t found themselves in very many save situations this year, as this was just the third game that has been decided by three or fewer runs. But after the Tigers lost to Forsyth 8-1 during the 2022 regular season, there was some extra motivation for them to secure this one.
“It was a really big game and it meant a lot,” Cahill said. “I knew I had to prove myself and do my best.”
Mehl was the winning pitcher, as he relieved Goodman midway through the second. He allowed two inherited runners to score, but then allowed just one run over the next two innings while the Tigers rallied to regain the lead.
Tristan Hunter had a two-out, two-RBI single during Forsyth’s fifth-inning comeback bid, but Mehl got the next batter to fly out to end the threat.
“We knew they had a good team and we knew they were going to keep hitting it,” Mehl said. “I think some of the boys realized we need to step up and just keep putting it on them inning after inning and stay in the game the whole game.”
STOCKTON (13-4) 041 160 0 — 12 11 0
FORSYTH (12-5) 060 130 0 — 10 10 4
