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Nevada baseball edges Clinton at home, 5-4
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
"That team that played Joplin last week was not the same team that we put on the field today." Nevada Tigers head baseball coach Danny Penn's squad did win its seventh consecutive game Tuesday, but it wasn't quite in the same fashion as the home opener against the Eagles of Joplin High School last week.
In that contest, the Tigers came out firing on all cylinders and had little trouble getting past a solid Eagles team. In Tuesday's contest, however, such was not the case as the Tigers needed yet another late-inning comeback to secure a 5-4 victory over the Clinton Cardinals, thanks to a lackadaisical start that had their coach shaking his head.
"I wasn't liking the vibe I was getting from all the players," Penn said. "It seemed like we were 100 percent locked in."
Early in the contest, the Tigers simply didn't appear to be quite themselves, resulting in Clinton starter Dillon Richardson allowing just two hits over the contest's first five innings, despite walking three batters and hitting two more. In the first two trips through the lineup, the Tigers did manage a pair of runs -- one on Brett Norton's RBI double in the second inning and the other on Clay Regers' RBI single in the third -- but the majority of the contact the Tigers made with Richardson's pitches resulted in easy outs for the Cardinals.
"It's going to come back and bite us, if we don't put an emphasis on valuing our at-bats the first time through the order," Penn said. "Even the second time through the order today, we had a lot of lazy fly balls to the outfield."
The Cardinals took advantage of those struggles and a number of struggles from Tigers starting pitcher Grant Wolfe, putting the senior in a number of compromising positions. Though he found himself having to work with his team trailing on the scoreboard and with multiple runners on base, on several occasions, Wolfe ultimately battled his way out, however, eventually earning the win.
"Grant Wolfe, a senior, didn't have his best stuff today," Penn said. "He battled on the mound."
Wolfe's struggles on the mound turned into a quick run in the second inning on Christian Jones' single and two more in the third, leaving the Tigers in a 3-2 hole. Clinton went on to plate on more run in the fourth on Connor Ford's RBI single, putting the Tigers in a two-run hole with time running out.
With just six outs left in their bid to extend the winning streak to seven games, Tyler Ketterman gave the Tigers the spark they had been looking for all day long as he hit a hard ground ball up the third base line that ended up putting him on third base with no outs, after a pair of errors on the play. That fortuitous circumstance was all the spark the Tigers needed as they plated three runs in the frame, ultimately bringing an end to Richardson's day on the mound and taking a 5-4 lead.
"If we put the ball on the ground, make more than one person touch it, a lot of times, good things will happen and we saw that in the sixth inning," Penn said. "Tyler Ketterman put the ball on the ground, eats up the third baseman, eats up the left fielder and Tyler gets to third base with nobody out because of it."
With their first lead of the day and both starting pitchers off the mound, the Tigers entered the seventh inning knowing the tides had turned and reliever Easton Mitchell wasted little time putting the game away, as he faced the minimum in the seventh, securing the one-run victory for the Tigers.
"Easton didn't have his best fastball today, but his offspeed pitch, his curveball, was sharp today," Penn said. "And so, he was able to keep a lot of their hitters off balance just by showing the fastball and then, throwing the curveball for a strike."
Though it was Mitchell who finished out the contest, Wolfe earned the victory after allowing four earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts, four walks and three hit batters in 5 2/3 innings of work. Mitchell earned the save, allowing no runs, no hits and no walks with a strikeout in an inning and a third.
Richardson took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits with seven strikeouts, three walks and three hit batters in 5 1/3 innings.
"We started rough, we rebounded well enough to get a win," Penn said. "I wouldn't say it was an effort that I'm really proud of, but a win is a win, especially against a district opponent."
Norton was the only Tiger who finished with more than one hit in the contest, as he went 2-for-3 at the plate with a single, a double and two RBIs.
By the time all was said and done, the two squads finished with the same number of hits, but the real difference-maker in the contest turned out to be defense. Nevada finished the day with just one error to Clinton's three -- two of which came on the pivotal play in the sixth inning that sparked the game-winning rally.
"It's cliché, but pitching and defense is what's going to win, especially at the high school level," Penn said. "Defense is a point of pride for us."
With the win, the Tigers improved their winning streak to seven games and pushed their overall record to 9-2 on the year, while Clinton slipped to 9-5. Not only that, but Tuesday's contest was one of two the Tigers have on the schedule this season against Class 4, District 12 opposition, giving them an advantage when it comes time for this year's district tournament seeding meeting.
Next on the schedule for Penn's squad is Thursday, when they head out on the road to take on the Bulldogs of El Dorado Springs High School. First pitch in that contest is set for 4:30 p.m., in El Dorado Springs.