Tigers snap 3-game skid with win over Hollister

Nevada High School senior catcher Blake Pryor (left) reels in a throw at the plate during the Tigers' 8-0 loss to McDonald County Wednesday at Lyons Stadium.

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

By Hank Layton hlayton@nevadadailymail.com

Following back-to-back road losses to out-of-conference foes El Dorado Springs and Fort Scott, a home tilt against Big 8 West rival McDonald County with a chance to clinch the conference crown seemed like just what the Nevada High School baseball team needed to get back to its winning ways.

Instead, a visit from an East sider did the trick.

After briefly extending their losing streak to three games with an 8-0 loss to the Mustangs on Wednesday, the Tigers rebounded with a 9-5 victory over Hollister in a Big 8 Crossover contest on Thursday. Both games were at Lyons Stadium.

Sophomore Case Sanderson and junior Logan Marquardt each had two hits and drove in two runs against Hollister, with senior Blake Pryor ripping two base hits and eating up five innings on the mound. He and fellow senior Elijah Nadurata (who pitched the final two innings) each struck out three batters.

The crimson and gray Tigers (16-5 overall, 4-1 in the Big 8 West) collected 11 hits as a team and scored four runs in the first, three in the fourth, and two in the sixth. The Tigers from Hollister (17-4) plated one in the first, three in the fourth, and one in the fifth.

The previous day against McDonald County (13-11, 5-1) — or, more specifically, against sophomore pitcher Weston Gordon — Nevada failed to advance a baserunner past second base. Gordon threw a complete game shutout, limiting the Tigers to three hits while getting plenty of help from the sure-handed defense behind him.

Sanderson had two of those hits and a walk, and he also started on the bump for the Tigers, striking out five Mustangs in a row through the first three innings — which were scoreless by both teams before McDonald County scored three in the fourth (the Mustangs plated five more in the fifth). Sanderson finished with eight Ks total.

The win for McDonald County clinched Big 8 West. The Mustangs will play Logan-Rogersville Monday for the overall conference crown.

Despite the recent skid, the Tigers were still chosen as the no. 1 seed and earned a first-round bye in next weekend’s Class 4 District 12 tournament, where they will face the winner of no. 4 Lamar and no. 5 East Newton (both of whom NHS has already beaten this season).