POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – The Three Rivers Raiders baseball team extend their record to 20-15 after splitting a four-game weekend series with the North Central Missouri (NCMC) Pirates.
The teams each won one and lost one in Saturday's doubleheader. The Pirates picked up the first win of the series, 6-5 in extra innings (9 innings). However, the home team came back to win the second game 3-1. A similar result came about the next day, where NCMC won another game 6-5, but would drop the final game of the series to the Raiders 10-6.
Although Three Rivers head coach Matt Palmer would have wanted to take all four wins over the weekend, he was pleased with how his team held on and battled back in two long doubleheaders.
"The biggest thing was just being tight at the plate," Palmer said. "We've had a couple of guys hurt these last few weeks, and we are starting to bring some of them back and get their feet back underneath them. We were just telling our guys to relax, let's get some guys in scoring position and hit them in. We struggled a little bit with the strike zone, but we started to calm down and get in a rhythm a little bit."
Saturday, March 28
Sophomore Dalton Forck, a left-handed pitcher out of Benton, Missouri, started the series off for the Raiders on Saturday. He went five innings with three strikeouts, allowing six hits and held the Pirates to just three runs.
A big fifth inning gave the Raiders a 5-3 lead before Forck stepped off the mound, with a one-run RBI from Jacob Baller out of Poplar Bluff and a two-run RBI from Dax Webb from Jonesboro, Arkansas.
However, NCMC would tie the game up in the top of the seventh to force extra innings. Finally, in the ninth inning, Leonel Dominguez hit a solo homer to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead and the final score.
NCMC put out 10 hits in this first game compared to the Raiders, who had eight. The Pirates' bullpen also combined for nine strikeouts while Three Rivers' pitching staff combined for eight. Along with Forck, sophomore Talan Case from Clarksville, Arkansas and Ashton Williams from Kennett, Missouri each recorded one strikeout. Jonesboro, Arkansas native Grayson Becker closed out the game with three strikeouts and allowed just one hit. However, Becker picked up the loss after Dominguez's home run.
The Raiders bounced back in their second game on Saturday with a late-game rally in the sixth inning.
Catcher Jaxson Jones, out of Park Hills, Missouri and pinch hitter Jericho Morris Johns, a freshman from Ontario, Canada, came out as the two heroes in this sixth-inning comeback.
Jones kicked the inning off with a solo home run on the first pitch to tie the game at one run apiece.
With two outs, Morris Johns stepped in and sent one out for a double-run homer to secure their 3-1 final score.
"Jericho is one of the guys who can put a long ball together," Palmer said. "We were in the right situation for it, so we let him step up and do his job. He's been wanting to do it all day long. He started this morning very strong, and we almost brought him in the first game. This time, we had the right spot for him and he capitalized on it. He stepped up big for us."
This was Morris Johns' first homer of the season and Jones' 10th.
Rex Tedder, a right-hand pitcher out of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, picked up the win. He pitched a complete game with five strikeouts, allowing just five hits and one run.
Sunday, March 29
The third game of the series started in Three Rivers' favor, as they picked up an early run in the first inning off of Kennett native Matt Gardner's solo home run. In the No.1 hole, Gardner hit one out to right field on the third pitch of his first at-bat.
The Pirates responded, scoring one run in the third inning and adding three more runs in the fourth. However, a four-run fifth inning put the Raiders up 5-4.
Running on a two-out rally, Baller hit a line drive to center field to bring the score within one run. Following this hit, Baller and Kayson Becker from Jonesboro, Arkansas each scored, stealing home on wild pitches.
The Pirates once again retaliate with a two-run RBI in the sixth inning from JP Gonzalez. NCMC recorded eight hits compared to Three Rivers' five. The Pirates' pitching staff also had eight strikeouts over the home team's five.
Jack Kemp, out of Niagara Falls, Canada, started on the mound. He went three innings and threw two strikeouts. Casper Rammeloo picked up one strikeout in one inning. Fellow Kennett native Hayden Gilmore closed out the fifth inning, recording one strikeout and allowing one hit. Griffin Duvall from Brookland, Arkansas, finished the game for the Raiders with one strikeout.
After dropping the third game of the series, Three Rivers came back with their best showing of the weekend.
They scored seven runs between the first two innings to create a 7-4 lead.
Trey Gardner of Kennett, Missouri, would hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to give the Raiders an 8-5 lead. Two more runs in the sixth helped them reach 10 total in the game, while Austin Hunter closed out the series, holding the Pirates to one run in the seventh inning.
This was the first game of the series Three Rivers out-hit NCMC, going for nine hits compared to the Pirates' eight. The two bullpens matched each other with four strikeouts apiece.
Dillon Stewart picked up the win for the Raiders, starting through the first four innings. Jackson Privett recorded two strikeouts through two innings before Hunter closed the game out.
Following this series, Palmer's primary focus for the future is on his bullpen.
"The biggest thing right now is throwing strikes," Palmer said. "Our guys have to calm down and we have to throw strikes as pitchers. Rex did a phenomenal job. He was a workhorse for us, threw strikes and wasn't afraid of giving up hits. When you do that, you can capitalize and gain confidence. Now, we just need the rest of our guys to follow that up and do the same thing."
Tedder is 2-1 this season with three saves. He has 40 strikeouts so far, averaging over 12 strikeouts per game with a 3.72 ERA.
The Raiders move on to their next four-game series against St. Louis Community College, starting with another double header on Thursday, April 2. This will be at the Poplar Bluff campus with the first pitch at 1 p.m.
Kaelin Triggs - Daily American Republic