Tigers split with Parsons, Tuesday rained out

Nevada's Kyle Hughes, shown during a tournament in Carthage last week, helped the Tigers to series split in Parsons, Kan., Monday.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tuesday's baseball game between Nevada and Harrisonville was postponed until today (4:30 p.m., Lyons Stadium). Here is a recap from Monday's doubleheader against Parsons, courtesy of the Parsons Sun.

By Mack McClure

Parsons Sun

PARSONS, Kan. -- Just when it appeared that Parsons High School was shutting the door on Nevada Monday in the first game of a doubleheader, the Tigers made things interesting.

Parsons ace pitcher Jeff Schibi took a 6-2 lead entering the seventh inning, but Nevada capitalized on a pair of walks and a hit batter by Schibi to chop the lead in half at 6-4. To complicate matters, the Tigers had the tying runs in scoring position at second and third and only one out.

Enter Parsons reliever Taylor Blackburn, who is quickly becoming its bullpen ace.

Blackburn, a senior right-hander, struck out Ronnie Herda and then got Ben Compton on a fly ball to left field for the final out to earn the save in the Vikings' 6-4 victory at Marvel Park.

The second game was all Nevada. The Tigers scored three runs in the first and four in the second en route to a 7-4 victory and a split of the non-conference doubleheader.

Monday's opener found Schibi (1-1) scattering seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. He totaled seven strikeouts and walked three through the first six innings before running out of gas in the seventh.

Schibi allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base in every inning but the fourth.

In contributing to three of Nevada's four runs, the Tigers' leadoff hitter reached base in the first, fifth and seven and came around to score.

Still, it was the main problem Schibi had and even then, Blackburn was able to bail him out.

Parsons managed just four hits but made each of them count, capped by Donte Flore's RBI triple to cap a four-run uprising in the fourth.

In the first, Flores drew a one-out walk and moved to second on Schibi's single. After a balk on Nevada starter Jerrod Alexander put runners on second and third, Tyler Gilley popped out near home plate.

But Taylor Blackburn followed by singling in Flores with the first run. Schibi scored on an error on catcher Ronnie Herda for the 2-1 edge.

The score stayed the same until the fourth, when Taylor Blackburn, Zach Schibi, Rocky Blackburn and Jaran Dixon reached consecutively on Nevada fielding errors, with Taylor Blackburn and Perry Myers -- the courtesy runner for Zach Schibi -- scoring on errors.

Rocky Blackburn scored the third run on Brett Cares' RBI grounder to first, and Flores' three-base hit down the right-field line scored Dixon with the fourth run.

With PHS leading 6-2, trouble started brewing for Jeff Schibi after he walked Jordan Kerbs to start the seventh. Schibi fanned Colby Shepherd, but then hit Cody Thompson with a pitch. Kyle Hughes then singled, and an overthrow at third enabled Kerbs and Thompson to score, with Hughes advancing to third, to make it 6-4.

Jeff Schibi walked Alexander and his courtesy runner, Cameron Cartwright, promptly stole second. That finished Schibi for the evening.

But Blackburn got Herda on strikes swinging before retiring Compton on a soft fly to left field.

In the second game the Tigers touched Parsons starter Brett Cares for three runs in the first inning and coasted the rest of the way.

Nevada pitchers Kerbs and James Tumm combined to allow only two hits -- a single by Jeff Schibi in the first and an RBI single by Jaran Dixon in the seventh. Kerbs pitched the first two innings before giving way to Tumm, who retired the first nine batters he faced, including striking out three.

In between, Parsons' only offense was reaching base on three of the Tigers' four errors, along with a walk and a fielder's choice.

Cares, a sophomore right-hander making his varsity pitching debut, walked two batters and hit another of the first three he faced. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Alexander before Herda swatted a two-run double to right-center.

Herda was given a reprieve after Vikings catcher Zach Schibi dropped a first-pitch pop foul down the third-base line.

The next pitch, Herda turned on a Cares fastball and sent it gapward.

Cares walked Ben Fisher to start the second and then retired Chase Domer on a pop fly to second. But he yielded a walk to Kerbs, and Shepherd followed with a two-run double to right.

Thompson singled to put runners at the corners and chased Cares.

Blackburn retired Hughes, the first batter he faced, on a pop fly to second, but gave up back-to-back singles to Alexander and Herda to increase the margin to 7-2.

From the third inning on, Blackburn shut out the Tigers on two hits, although Parsons couldn't make up the early deficit.