North Callaway finished with two hits Thursday against Eastern Missouri Conference leader Elsberry.

North Callaway vs Clopton Photo Gallery

The Thunderbirds had three hits and five runs at the end of the second inning Friday at home against Clopton as they bounced back to win the conference game 10-0 in five innings. Braydn O’Neal ended the game on an RBI single with one out in the fifth inning, following a performance from the North Callaway offense that included seven doubles.

The first seven hitters in the North Callaway lineup each finished with an RBI as Keaton Bell and Jordan Fishburn led with two RBI each on back-to-back RBI doubles to open the scoring in the second inning. Moving down the line of run producers were O’Neal, Matthew Weber, Davis Woods, Kyle Pennell and Sam Pezold.

Head coach Zeth Lavy said the Thunderbirds (6-4, 5-1 EMO) aren’t out of the conference race yet after losing just their first EMO game on Thursday but wanted to make more noise Friday. 

“Even in the first inning, we squared some balls up that just went right at guys,” Lavy said. “We were talking in between the first half inning, we were going to find some gaps.”

Once damage had been done against Clopton (3-8, 1-5 EMO) starting pitcher Peter Daskalakis, North Callaway didn’t let up as runs were added in each inning after a five-run second inning. The doubles continued to come in bunches as well.

In the fourth inning, Weber and Woods hit back-to-back RBI doubles prior to Sam Pezold hitting the base of the fence with his two-bagger for a 9-0 lead.

The Thunderbirds didn’t come anywhere close to the distance they covered on the bases against Elsberry (10-4, 8-0 EMO) as Kaden Kinsler effectively silenced them through five innings with seven strikeouts and one hit.

“Last night, the two guys they threw were plus velocity that we’ve seen most of the year, and we didn’t handle that very well,” Lavy said. “This guy was more the speed we’ve seen consistently, and we didn’t waste any time. Even the leadoff hitter was a groundball to shortstop, but it was a well-struck baseball. From the jump, timing-wise, we were on. That’s a testament to these guys of not letting Elsberry beat you twice.”

North Callaway was the one with five innings of effective pitching on Friday as Carter Moore used 70 pitches to strike out seven and allow two baserunners in the game via two hits. Moore is typically the one receiving pitches behind the plate and has been on the mound twice this season, allowing one run on three hits and striking out 14 in eight innings pitched against Van-Far and Clopton, because of the demand for his catching.

“He hasn’t gotten the opportunity to throw as much as he should because he is our backstop 90 percent of the time,” Lavy said. “He’s been able to match up against two teams where his stuff overpowers. In that situation, you can try to do too much or you could just go right at them. Both times he’s been on the hill, he’s gone right at guys.”

North Callaway played at conference foe Mark Twain on Monday prior to hosting its second EMO undefeated team in a week in Montgomery County (6-2, 4-0 EMO) at 5 p.m. Thursday.