Friday was one of the last times Mexico’s 11 seniors would play on their home turf.

Mexico vs Palmyra Photo Gallery

While the Bulldogs had a six-game home losing streak this season, they walked off their second straight home game when they beat Palmyra in 10 innings on Senior Night. A couple of seniors came through with big hits, including Landon Hilderman’s game-tying RBI double in the seventh inning and Jaydon Eldridge’s game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning.

Eldridge said he felt confident stepping in with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning but admitted to some uncertainty when the ball left the bat. He hit a looping fly ball out to shallow centerfield and the diving outfielder was unable to make the catch.

“I thought he was going to catch it,” Eldridge said. “That’s why I didn’t run down the baseline.”

Eldridge was the hero this time after Brady Fox’s two-RBI single won Mexico’s game two days prior against Hannibal. The Bulldogs (14-9) fell behind Hannibal 5-3 then and were trailing 5-3 against Palmyra (8-7) on Friday.

Head coach Daniel McCarty said Mexico did feel some nerves playing at home, which might sound unusual on its own field, but have experienced tough loss after tough loss at home. Four of Mexico’s six home losses this season have been by two runs or fewer and three happened in extra innings. 

“We’ve only been out of one game at home this year, and that was at home against Kirksville (in an 8-1 loss),” McCarty said. “After that game, in the games we’ve lost, we’ve been winning at some point until the latter half of the game. Our guys are using that for moments like this.”

After winning in dramatic fashion recently, Hilderman said Mexico is feeling a lot better after losing those types of games repeatedly before. He said the Bulldogs will only “keep going on up from here” and knows they “will be on the right path” during districts.

Hilderman finished with a solid 3-for-4 night at the plate. In his first at-bat, he didn’t make solid contact when he skied a pitch that fell into right field, shrugging his shoulders at the dugout when he reached first base. He then crushed the ball in his ensuing at-bats, including his game-tying RBI double that sailed over the centerfielder’s head.

“I had to be calm up there,” Hilderman said. “I was a little too anxious in the first at-bat when I hit that little blooper over there. It was just on up from there. I just had to square it up right and just hit it where nobody was.”

It was actually simple for Hilderman and Eldridge when it came to their approach, McCarty said.  

“They were simplifying their approach to ‘see ball, hit ball’ versus ‘this ball needs to go to the gap,’” McCarty said. “Our guys settled down and said, ‘I need to find a way to get on base.’ Landon’s pitch was an outside fastball, and he drove that right-center. He hit it where it was pitched. Jaydon Eldridge on that game-winner was low and outside. He got it on the flare.”

Brayden Arnold had a two-RBI single in the sixth inning to make it 5-3 Palmyra, Drew DeMint had a RBI single for a 5-4 game in the seventh inning and senior Austin Maxwell drew four walks. Mexico started the game with all seniors in the starting lineup until McCarty cycled in his usual starters in the fourth inning after everybody had at least one at-bat.

Brady Fox pitched seven innings in relief with four walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs. Fox remained efficient in his outing by throwing 82 pitches. McCarty said he liked how Fox threw strikes, kept Palmyra off-balance and fielded his position well.

McCarty said Mexico has been doing the little things better that are necessary to win the plenty of close games that have involved the team this year. He said the pitching especially has been better with its “location, movement, velocity.” After Mexico pitchers walked 23 combined hitters in two losses on back-to-back days at home against Centralia and Lafayette (St. Joseph), the Bulldogs walked 15 combined hitters in the three victories after that while playing three extra innings against Palmyra.

“We’re focused on the small things like baserunning, moving runners over, keeping our errors at a minimum,” McCarty said. “Our biggest emphasis is our walks. In the past, our walks have been hurting us. The last few games, we've been dialing in on our pitching and our command.”

Hilderman said Mexico has been through a lot while growing up in the game. The Bulldogs this year have had ups and downs, but Hilderman said about 5-7 players of the senior class can be traced back to 7- or 8-years-old.

“I couldn’t ask for a better team or better coaches,” Hilderman said. “It was awesome playing for this team. I grew up with most of these boys. It’s going to be hard when we’re all done for the year.”

Eldridge played three years in the baseball program and said he had so much fun in the basketball offseason. He will play college basketball for Olney Central College in Illinois and showed his vertical as he rose high above his teammates when they mobbed him around first base after the walk-off hit.

“It has meant a lot,” Eldridge said. “I get to come out here after basketball season and have fun with my friends. It is really calming and relaxing out there. The wind is blowing, you never know if it is going to be hot or cold, or raining or snowing.”

McCarty said he has had most of his senior class all four years and was pleased to have them for so long but is also sad that they will eventually go. He said they are seniors but are also leaders.

“They are workhorses,” McCarty said. “They have been playing ball together for quite some time so that chemistry will be new next year. Our older guys are setting good examples for our younger kids to put them in good spots and to build their confidence for years to come.”

Mexico plays at Class 4 No. 8 Blair Oaks (13-10) at 5 p.m. Thursday.