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Tigers mash their way to conference victory
Led by junior Tyler Ketterman's three triples, the Nevada Tigers rocked the Kansas City Center Yellowjackets 12-2 in five innings Friday evening at Lyons Stadium.
Nevada has now rebounded from a six-game losing streak with two consecutive victories, improving to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in the West Central Conference. Meanwhile, Center drops to 2-10 overall.
Ketterman keyed the hit parade, going 4-for-4 at the dish with three RBIs.
"We did a great job of seeing the ball and looking to drive it gap-to-gap," Nevada head coach Danny Penn said during his postgame radio interview.
"Tyler struggled (at the plate) yesterday, and was anxious to get back in the box. He swung the bat well at the top of our lineup. And it was just kind of a trend that continued throughout our lineup today."
Center's Trezmond Jackson, also the team's starting pitcher, led off the game with a double down the left field line off Nevada's Bryson Leftwich.
Two batters later, Bariah White dropped in a bloop single, scoring Jackson to hand the Yellowjackets a 1-0 advantage.
With 1-out in the bottom of the first inning, Ketterman hammered a Jackson offering to deep left-center field for his first triple of the evening.
Senior Brett Mitchell, who entered the game batting .404, grounded out to the shortstop, scoring Ketterman from third to knot the score at 1-1.
In the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Daulton Shepard connected for his first career varsity hit, an RBI-double to center field scoring Jacob Johnson from third base to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. In addition to the hit, Shepard also made a diving catch in center field early in the contest.
"Daulton comes to the park every day ready to play," Penn said. "We put him in center field and he was ready to go."
The second inning was a big one for Nevada, as junior Myles McNeley laced a double down the right field line, scoring Shepard as Nevada led 3-1.
Back at the top of the order, sophomore Branden Harder drew a walk, putting runners on first and second base with two outs. Unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, Ketterman stepped into the batters box and crushed a Jackson pitch into the deepest part of center field, plating McNeley and Harder as the Tigers went in front 5-1.
"Tyler has a violent swing in a good way," Penn said. "He generates a lot of bat speed with his lower half. You talk about the different components of the swing ---- the load, throwing the barrel, and throwing your backside. Tyler does all of those things very well. And from a timing perspective, he does them as well as you could ask for. So the ball jumps off his bat as evidenced by his swings tonight."
After Center tacked on a run in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 5-2, Nevada's bats continued to stay hot in the bottom half of the frame.
Tigers cleanup hitter Trey Pritchett led off the inning with a line-drive single to center field. An error on Yewllowjackets center fielder Jeff Jump resulted in Pritchett coasting into second base.
A second consecutive miscue in center field led to a two-base error, as Pritchett advanced to third and Derek O'Dell to second.
A Johnson sacrifice fly to right-center field scored Pritchett from third, putting Nevada on top 6-2.
The rough defensive inning continued, as Jump was unable to come up with a fly ball off the bat of Shepard. The third error of the inning resulted in O'Dell crossing home plate, as the Tigers took a 7-2 lead.
The lead swelled to six, courtesy of McNeley's second RBI-double down the right-field line.
"Myles has really come around since the season has progressed," Penn said. "I think early in the season he was a little timid at the plate. I think he was trying to do too much. Now he is confident that when he goes up there he can hit the ball the other way if he needs to.
"If they try to bust him inside like a lot of teams seem to do, he's able to get the barrel out in front and hit the ball hard to right field."
Ketterman belted his third triple of the game in the bottom of the fourth, and later came across to score courtesy of a Mitchell sacrifice, handing Nevada a 9-2 lead.
The Tigers continued to crush Center pitching in the bottom of the fifth inning, adding three more runs to put the five-inning run-rule into effect. The game ended on Ketterman's fourth hit of the day, a blast into deep right-center field, scoring Shepard from third,
The base-knock likely would have resulted in Ketterman's fourth triple of the game, had the run-rule not ended the game.
For Nevada, Leftwich, a senior, made his first career varsity start on the mound, going five innings and picking up the victory. Penn said with his pitching staff somewhat fatigued, Leftwich's complete-game performance provided a boost for his club.
"Bryson going five innings obviously is a big help to us," Penn said. "Winning via run-rule also helps because there's two innings that we don't have to have a pitcher out there."
Junior varsity
Like the varsity team against El Dorado Springs, the Tigers JV team secured victory with a Myles Miller walk-off single to right field, as Nevada won 2-1 over El Do Thursday night.
The Tigers trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth (the final inning). The inning opened with a Ben Satterfield single, followed by a Will Johnson walk. Both Satterfeld and Johnson advanced 90-feet up the base-paths prior to Miller's game-winning hit. In addition, junior Payton Bright pitched a complete-game, earning the victory.
The JV Tigers followed with a 14-3 five inning victory Friday over Kansas City Center. Nevada sophomore Trenton Ellis earned the win.
Up next
The Tigers travel to Neosho High School, today, where they are set to face Neosho and Webb City.
"We've won two in a row, but by no means can we overlook a team," Penn said referring to Neosho High School. "Branden's going to start on the mound for us. He always throws strikes and keeps us in the game. I'm hoping our offensive performance today carries over."
The Tigers road trip continues into next week, as they face Clinton in a conference matchup Monday.