Van-Far struggled against a district opponent on Wednesday at home, but there is still time before the postseason.
The Indians lost 17-0 in five innings to Eastern Missouri Conference foe and fellow Class 2 District 5 team Clopton (11-7, 7-3 EMO). Van-Far (11-8, 5-5 EMO) committed four errors and allowed six unearned runs while only finishing with one hit at the plate on a Landon Flowers bunt single in the fifth inning.
Head coach Cameron Huff said Van-Far didn't make routine plays all night and then made more mistakes like bases-loaded walks, allowing runs on passed balls and getting thrown out on the bases. In the first inning, the Indians mishandled two ground balls for two errors that allowed all three Clopton runs to score in the inning. Everybody makes mistakes, including Huff when he was a player, he said, as a mental reset needs to be done.
"I call it the 8-second rule, like in bull riding," Huff said. "You've got a certain amount of time to get over it. I always just smacked my glove and moved on. Some of these boys just haven't quite figured that out."
Van-Far used four pitchers in a game that followed a seven-inning outing by No. 1 pitcher Reece Culwell. Gibson Condie started this game and had to be taken out due to pitch count as Huff wanted him available for Friday's 5 p.m. game at Monroe City (6-9).
Huff said the pitching staff needs to do better to provide the team more options on the mound and avoid falling into a deep hole like Wednesday.
"We have to throw strikes," Huff said. "We get into too many counts where it's full count or 3-1. We're always trying to dig ourselves out of a hole instead of starting ahead and staying ahead."
Clopton is the No. 3 seed in the district tournament, which begins May 16 at Clopton in Clarksville, while Van-Far is the No. 4 seed that plays No. 5 seed Paris at 4:30 p.m. The Indians were more competitive with conference foe and No. 2 seed Silex earlier in the season in a 5-1 loss.
Huff said Van-Far needs to work harder at practice because the Indians could see Clopton again. He said Van-Far has to focus on Paris first, of course, but two wins in the tournament would earn them a return trip to the championship game, where Clopton could advance.
"We have to barrel through the mistakes and play clean baseball," Huff said. "We're either going to have to buy in or be sent home early."
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