Eagles' sixth-inning rally downs Cougars

Friday's rain forced New Heights Christian Academy to move its home baseball game with Pierce City High School to Chuck Barnes Field at Webb City High School.

The Cougars fell behind 1-0 early but responded immediately to take a 3-1 lead. It was a battle all night as the Eagles clawed their way back and eventually held a 7-3 advantage after the top of the fourth inning.

But once again, New Heights had an immediate response, and it tied things at 7 apiece in the home half of that same inning.

The visitors had one last rally that saw them plate seven runs in the sixth and take a 14-7 lead. The Eagles (3-5) went on to claim a 17-12 win. The Cougars (2-6) managed five runs in the bottom of the seventh as they tried to make a late comeback, but it fell short.

"We talk about three keys every game. We have to hit the ball hard, we have to throw strikes and we have to make routine plays, and we didn't do that consistently tonight," New Heights head coach Philip Jordan said.

Jordan added that the focus for his team is to find that consistency so that games like this can go their way the rest of the season.

Pierce City's sixth-inning rally started right away with left-handed hitting Walker Earl driving a ball over the head of the right fielder. Earl raced all the way to third base for a triple to lead off the inning.

Up next, Logan Cox sent a pitch over the head of the Cougars' left fielder, Justin Bgoni that saw Earl score with ease and Cox roll into second base with a double. That RBI from the Eagles senior made it 8-7.

"We have guys who can hit. ... Those two guys have been swinging the bat and its not a surprise when they square up a ball. Those are big hits to kind of turn the tide and give us momentum that we needed there," Pierce City head coach BJ Curry said. "That affects the other team too. Momentum is a thing, but somebody has to start the momentum. Those guys barreling up balls was kind of the difference in us breaking it open."

A pair of singles, a walk and a hit batter helped the Eagles to add two more runs, making it 10-7. Then, with two outs, Dyllan Kleiboeker and Earl reached via errors by the Cougars that stretched the lead to 14-7.

"Pierce City obviously hit the ball well in that inning. But we had some errors and plays we're capable of making that we didn't make, and they made us pay," Jordan said.

Pierce City tacked on three runs in the seventh thanks to a walk drawn by Logan Day, an infield single by Lincoln Jones and then a bunt to third base by Caleb Poage that ended up being a single as well, scoring Day. Then Eli Hunt and Landon Iman hit back-to-back singles to center field to make it 17-7.

Holden Garner got the start on the mound for Pierce City and had a 7-3 lead entering the bottom of the fourth. He ran into trouble that inning and was lifted while the bases were loaded and the score was 7-4.

Eli Hunt came in to pitch from shortstop. The freshman got the second out of the inning on a ground ball to third base that scored a run. Then he allowed a single to Cam Mehrens that scored two runs and tied the game at 7-7. He escaped the inning with a strikeout and the score still tied. The runs scored off of Hunt were charged to Garner, who had allowed them to reach base.

Hunt struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth and retired the Cougars in order in the sixth to keep a 14-7 lead. He allowed five runs in the seventh, but most of them were unearned.

"We're excited about Eli (Hunt). He's a freshman and he's getting thrust into some varsity situations, and we didn't play very well behind him. It's wet and there's all kinds of excuses that a freshman could make for not being successful, and he just kept going and kept giving us chances and luckily we had a big enough lead we could overcome some defensive mistakes," Curry said.

Pierce City has struggled early in the year with some lopsided losses. Curry talked about how the win can boost his team.

"For a small school, we play as tough a schedule as anybody, and when you have 17 guys on your roster and 13 of them are freshmen and sophomores and you're playing good people all the time, sometimes you just need something to look right on the scoreboard, and I'm glad we got that for the guys," Curry said.

New Heights showed its ability to rally back as well with two situations in which it fell behind and either came back to take a lead or tie the game.

"We've seen that all year, from the coaches perspective. We've seen our kids compete. It doesn't matter, like, we were down 10 runs, and we made it a little interesting. We've regularly fought back. We just have to stop getting ourselves in holes because it's not fun to be in that position," Jordan said.

The Cougars' starting pitcher, freshman Evan Horton, limited the Eagles to just two runs through three innings before seeing them plate five in the fourth.

"I thought Evan (Horton) started out well. He was in the zone, and that's all we're asking. ... We're just trying to make plays behind them. ... Tonight, we were a little off (all pitching); we walked too many guys and hit too many," Jordan said.