Baseball

Community R-6 cashes in off Van-Far mistakes, wins 9-0

It was not as sharp as Community R-6 wanted to play, but victory was still achieved.

Community R-6 at Van-Far Photo Gallery

The Trojans won 9-0 against Van-Far in Farber on Thursday, taking advantage of eight unearned runs. The Indians struck out 14 times against Community pitching, including 12 to Mason Carroll as he allowed his lone hit during the sixth inning.

Community head coach Joel Krato said the postgame chat wasn’t positive even after victory as there are several areas of the game the Trojans (5-1) can do better. One bright spot, though, was the performance from his junior right-handed pitcher.

“I think that was his only focus today was trying to throw strikes and let them put the ball in play,” Krato said. “He’s able to throw for us Monday now because he kept his pitch count down through six innings. I think he threw 72 pitches through six innings. That’s incredible.”

There weren’t many balls hit on the ground and not many hit anywhere during one stretch of the game when Carroll struck out eight straight not long after he sent the first nine Indian batters to the dugout.

“I was just trying to fill up the strike zone without walking anyone this game,” Carroll said. “Just was trying to let our defense get some balls and see what they can do.”

The basepaths were kept clear for Community’s defense, but in contrast, Van-Far struggled in the field. Seven Indian errors kept traffic bustling as ground balls were misplayed, outfielders missed catches and misplayed balls, and some throws were errant.

Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway said the Indian defense resembled how it looks in practice. Connaway said it was encouraging to see Van-Far (0-5) finish with two errors in a 4-1 loss to Wellsville-Middletown on Monday, which was a suspended game that saw the Indians win that day as they went in down 4-0 after Friday’s action.

“Mentally, we weren’t very good,” Connaway said. “It’s not like R-6 beat us, We beat ourselves. They’re a good team, but all of the dropped fly balls, throwing the ball from catcher to first and all these self-inflicted wounds (hurt).”

The situation was bleak for Van-Far as Connaway said its reigning all-Eastern Missouri Conference player Nikos Connaway sat out with a sprained ankle. That’s another pitcher the Indians didn’t have, but Connaway liked how starter Reece Culwell and reliever Cody Smith performed on the mound. 

Smith, in particular, wasn’t on the team to start the season as he debuted during the Wellsville game. This debut was far removed from the senior's freshman year at Clopton, which is when Connaway said Smith dropped the game until transferring to Van-Far last year. At moments, Connaway said Smith showed some rust as he hit a couple batters with his curveball but also showed flashes of brilliance as he struck out five and walked one in three hitless innings.

“Cody’s a really good baseball player,” Connaway said. “He probably hasn’t played baseball in five years as, in his freshman year at Clopton, he was on the roster and never played.”

Community stole seven bases — including Eli Johnson, Aaron Carter and Drake Welch each swiping two — with Van-Far’s pitching and Gibson Condie behind the plate. Krato said the Trojans ran well in that capacity but left a lot to be desired on offense.

The Trojans finished with five hits, including two hits and two RBI from Gavin Allen, following seven hits they put together in a 12-2 win at Slater on Tuesday. Krato said a lack of focus could explain Community not reaching the “district title game” potential he believes the team has.

“I thought we played poor. I told the kids we played poor,” Krato said. “We didn’t swing the bat as well as we did as we went back to missing signs. It’s the day before break (no school Good Friday today) and you have a game the next day (today). You’re thinking about the long weekend and what you’re doing and maybe you’re not as focused as you could be during the game.”

Despite the negative feel for Thursday, Krato said the next day could be the polar opposite as Community has a 1 p.m. home game today against Prairie Home/Bunceton (1-4). That is the start of a five-game homestand that continues at 5 p.m. Monday against New Haven (0-7) and includes Central Activities Conference foes like Sturgeon (2-4) and New Franklin (6-3) after that. 

“We’ll see how we come out (today),” Krato said. “That’s the best thing about baseball. You don’t got a week until the next game. You don’t have to wait three of four days like a basketball season. You play the next day sometimes."

Mexico unable to stop trickle of runs in 14-8 loss at Fulton

Mexico allowed a run in every inning on Thursday.

The Bulldogs’ losing streak was extended to six games after a 14-8 loss at North Central Missouri Conference rival Fulton as the Hornets collected 10 hits and scored nine unearned runs on five Mexico errors.

Fulton (5-1, 4-0 NCMC) took a 6-0 lead after the third inning until Mexico’s offense began responding in the fourth inning. The Bulldogs (3-6, 2-3 NCMC) were as close as 8-5 on a RBI single from Landyn Kleinsorge and a three-RBI home run by Tyler Thoenen — the first Mexico homer this season.

Mexico fell behind 11-5 after five innings thanks partly to an error and fought back again to 11-8 in the sixth inning with RBI from Drew DeMint and Kleinsorge, but the line moved back one more time after hitting batters and an error in the bottom half of the sixth inning. 

Thoenen finished with the three RBI and two hits, Matt McCurdy had two hits, an RBI and a triple, Sam Ryan was 2-for-3 with a double, and Ty Sims finished 2-for-4 .

The Mexico junior varsity defeated Fulton 12-5 in five innings to move to 4-1. Chance McCarty led with three RBI and Jaydon Eldridge followed with two RBI. Gage Walker struck out four in 2 2/3 innings, giving the three Bulldog pitchers eight strikeouts while all five runs allowed were unearned.

Mexico continues its challenging schedule with an 11 a.m. game against defending Class 4 state champion and No. 2 Southern Boone (11-1) and a 1 p.m. contest against Richmond (1-5) at 1 p.m. Both games will be played in Ashland.

North Callaway overwhelms Wellsville-Middletown 18-0 in five

North Callaway entered a showdown between Eastern Missouri Conference undefeated teams on Thursday.

The Thunderbirds and opposing Tigers were each 3-0 in EMO games, but Wellsville proved to be outmatched as North Callaway won 18-0 in five innings. Keaton Bell was dominant as he struck out seven and allowed one hit while his offense gave him 12 hits including seven extra base hits.

The scoring was gradual as North Callaway (5-2, 4-0 EMO) plated one run in the second inning and then three in the third prior to exploding in the next couple of innings. 

Matthew Weber led with four RBI, Davis Woods followed with three RBI and also had two doubles, Braydn O’Neal drove in three runs on a triple along with having three hits, Carter Moore finished with two RBI and two doubles, and Sam Pezold had two hits, two RBI, two walks and one double.

Even with the lopsided 50-5 margin of victory in North Callaway’s first four conference games, head coach Zeth Lavy said he likes how the defense is improving and supported an already stellar Bell. Thursday against Wellsville (4-2, 3-1 EMO) marked the second straight game the Thunderbirds finished without an error.

“Keaton kept them off-balance in and out and on the corners,” Lavy said. 

North Callaway hosts Mexico (3-6) at 5 p.m. Monday prior to testing its sparkling conference record at 5 p.m. Thursday at home against Elsberry (8-4, 5-0 EMO).

Centralia 1 South Shelby 0 in eight innings in Centralia. Panthers move to 3-4 and 1-1 in Clarence Cannon Conference. South Shelby 6-2 and 0-1 in CCC

Robinson, Romine key cogs in Centralia 13-2 win at Westran

The rout didn’t develop until late in the game, but Centralia had good pitching until then on Wednesday.

The Panthers won 13-2 at Westran after scoring six runs in the fifth and six innings. Matt Robinson shut down the Hornets before then as he finished with seven strikeouts, seven hits and one earned run in six innings.

Westran led 1-0 through three innings prior to Micah Danielson’s game-tying single in the fourth inning. Jack Romine and Ethan Adams RBI doubles highlighted the fifth inning as Romine finished 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored, and Adams had two RBI. 

Centralia kept the line moving by drawing seven walks.

Girls soccer

Moberly 4 Mexico 2 in Moberly. Emily Moppin scores both Mexico goals as Lady Bulldogs fall to 0-9 and 0-4 in North Central Missouri Conference

Boys golf

Centralia 170 Palmyra 172 in Palmyra. Cullen Bennett and Travis Brooks each were the medalist with matching scores of 39. Carter Moss had the next best Centralia score of 43.