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Tigers trounce Indians at home
NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Tigers got their first taste of district competition Friday afternoon as they defeated the Seneca Indians by a final score of 11-1.
The Indians came into the game with just one senior in their lineup and were forced to start a freshman on the mound due to their substantial lack of upper class leadership and roster depth. The Tigers wasted no time capitalizing on the shortcomings of the opposition, putting up three runs in their first trip to the plate.
Of those three runs, two came as a direct result of a wild throwing arm of freshman starter Tim Nimmo and a couple of defensive missteps in the field. The Tigers finished out the inning with no hits, but found themselves on the high end of a 3-0 score.
Ron Johnson began a dominant performance from the outset of the contest and was able to continue his strong effort through the duration of the five-inning contest that was shortened due to the run rule. Allowing just three hits in the game, Johnson was able to pick up the victory without allowing an earned run.
"Ron's not only a great kid, but a great player," head coach Kellan Foster said. "He threw it well... He really commands the mound."
Johnson got the start on the mound in a recent game against the Cardinals of Webb City as well and Foster said that he had some struggles, but was able to make a solid recovery to record another strong overall performance. That was case Friday as well, as Johnson was forced to pitch his way out of a fourth-inning jam, but kept his composure to limit the Indians to just one run.
Johnson was able to finish out the game in just 59 pitches, allowing three hits, one walk and one hit batter, with the Indians' only run coming as a direct result of an error on a ground ball at second base by Ross Wolfe in the fourth inning that allowed Eric Esposito to score.
The Tigers got their scoring started in their first chance at the plate and never let up, only going scoreless in one of the game's five innings. Aside from the third inning when Nimmo retired all three batters he faced, the Tigers were able to put up multiple runs in every inning but the fifth.
The Tigers were able to more than double their first inning total in the second as they were able to string together three timely hits, touching Nimmo for another four runs to take the early 7-0 lead.
Aggressive base running seemed to be the story of the game for Nevada as they were able to get stolen bases out of Ross Wolfe, Colby Shepherd, Taylor Scotten and Tucker Board in the second inning alone.
Wolfe finished the game with a strong offensive performance as he went 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI -- including the game winner -- and two runs scored and was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance, more than making up for his error in the fourth inning that allowed the Indians to post their only run of the game.
The Tigers were quickly able to answer Seneca's fourth-inning run with three of their own in the bottom of the frame. Just one of those runs turned out to be earned as Seneca third baseman Pryce Nutting committed two of the Indians' three total errors for the game in the fourth.
That late rally put the Tigers up by nine runs heading into the fifth inning and after another strong performance on the mound by Johnson, Nevada needed just three batters to plate the final run and take the game. Ross Wolfe came through for the Tigers once again in the fifth as he had all game long, knocking a single through the left side of the infield to bring in Austin Baldwin for the winning run.
"We'll take those about any day we can get them," Foster said of the run-rule victory.
That loss was the Indians' eighth in nine games this season. For the Tigers, the win lifts their record to 5-4 on the season and comes as their second victory by the run rule in as many games.
On Thursday afternoon, the Tigers traveled to Butler for a varsity/JV doubleheader and were able to pick up a 12-2 victory in five innings. Wolfe and Shepherd led the offense in that contest, notching three hits apiece and combining to score five of the Tigers' 12 runs.
The Tigers are set to be in action again today in a make-up contest from the opening game of the season that was rained out at Joplin High School.