Tigers rain on Purple Dragons parade, notch 5-2 victory in regular-season finale

Nevada’s Jarrett Owen works in relief Wednesday against the Pittsburg Purple Dragons.

Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

The Nevada Tigers wrapped their regular-season slate with an impressive 5-2, non-conference road victory over the SEK Conference champion Pittsburg (Kan.) Purple Dragons Wednesday at Jaycee Ballpark.

Nevada (12-8 overall) is peaking at the perfect time, having notched three consecutive victories to close out the regular-season.

“It was a solid win over a solid team,” said Nevada head coach Danny Penn during his KNEM-KNMO post game radio interview. “Except for a couple of mental breakdowns, we were focused for the entire game. I’m proud of how we played, it’s hard for me to find a lot of negatives.”

Nevada jumped in front 2-0 on Clay Gayman’s second-inning two-RBI double into the right-center field gap. The Tigers added to their advantage as sophomore Grant Miller chopped a two-RBI single up the middle, scoring both Dalton and Clay Gayman and pushing Nevada’s lead to 4-0.

With Missouri State High School Activities Association pitch-count regulations in mind, Nevada head coach Danny Penn replaced starter Branden Harder after three innings of work. Harder yielded just one hit, while striking out six, but ran his pitch-count up to 57 pitches due to an extremely tight strike zone.

Nevada High School senior Branden Harder, who was tapped as Wednesday’s starting pitcher against Pittsburg, delivers in the second inning.

Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

“The tight strike zone might be a positive for us,” explained Penn, adding, “we’ll probably have to make adjustments like this in the district tournament.”

Fellow senior Jarrett Owen took over in the fourth, striking out a trio of Purple Dragons over two dominant innings of work. Looking to preserve Owen for the upcoming Class 4 District 12 Tournament, Penn replaced him with Dalton Gayman in the bottom of the sixth.

Gayman, a southpaw hurler, was dogged by control issues, issuing a bases-loaded walk as Pittsburg trimmed the deficit to 5-1. Gayman was unable to complete the frame, and was replaced by Braeden Hinton with two outs in the sixth.

Nevada Tiger sophomore Dalton Gayman fires off a pitch in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s victory over Pittsburg.

Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

Hinton, who inherited the bases-loaded jam, escaped after inducing a groundout to second baseman Jonah Brus. Brus made an excellent play, moving to his right in order to field the sharply hit grounder and flipping to Harder for the inning-ending force out.

Hinton returned to the mound for the seventh with a four run lead and encountered some turbulence as Pittsburg (15-5) loaded the bases with no outs. Hinton, however, was able to induce a double-play as Harder, who had moved to shortstop, fielded a grounder, stepped on second, and fired to first baseman Peyton Denney for the twin-killing. Pittsburg was able to scratch across a run on the play, while also advancing a runner to third.

With two down, Miller made an incredible catch in right field, diving in the direction of the wall and snaring a sinking liner, to seal the victory in dramatic fashion.

“He took a good angle, and good route,” noted Penn of Miller’s seventh-inning heroics.

Both Clay Gayman and Miller collected two RBI apiece, while Owen notched the victory.

Nevada’s Braeden Hinton is all smiles, receiving a hi-five from head coach Danny Penn — as he heads into the dugout after emerging unscathed from a sixth inning jam. See a future edition of the Daily Mail for all the latest on Nevada Tiger baseball

Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

“I think Pittsburg is as good as any team we’ll see in the district tournament,” Penn told the Daily Mail.

Up next

Opening-round play of the Class 4 District 12 Tournament, as the No. 3 seed Tigers square off with No. 6 East Newton. The first pitch is scheduled 1 p.m., Saturday in Carl Junction.