Tigers blank Seneca in district-play

Nevada senior Bryson Leftwich makes a routine catch in right field. (Photo by Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail)

The fourth-seeded Nevada Tigers shut out the fifth-seeded Seneca Indians 2-0 in the opening-round of the Class 4 District 12 baseball tournament Saturday in Monett.

With the victory, the Tigers (12-13) advance to the semifinals where they will meet up with No. 1 seed Monett (22-3). For Nevada, sophomore Branden Harder spun the complete-game shut out, scattering six hits while striking out five.

Nevada head coach Danny Penn said one of the keys to Harder's success was getting ahead in counts.

"Getting ahead really allowed him to mix in his curveball, of which he had good command," Penn said. "I think today was the best Branden has thrown this year. He was very pitch-efficient and the two double-plays we turned behind him were very helpful and came at opportune times."

The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of an Andrew Heathman sacrifice fly, scoring junior Tyler Ketterman from third base. The Tigers added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth, via a Brett Mitchell RBI-double scoring Ketterman to hand the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.

Ketterman and Mitchell led the way, combining to go 4-for-6 at the dish.

"I think our (week-long) layoff between games hurt our timing offensively," Penn said. "Hopefully today's game helps with that."

Up next

Monday's scheduled contest with No. 1 seed Monett was postponed due to heavy rainfall. The first pitch is now slated for 4:30 p.m. today, in Monett.

"We'll have a batting practice to try to further prepare us for Monett," Penn said Saturday night.

Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Carl Junction (24-7) is scheduled to play sixth-seeded East Newman (7-17), today at 4:30 p.m.