Carl Junction outlasts West Plains
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — When the Carl Junction High School Bulldogs baseball team (12-4) faced West Plains High School (5-8) on the road Tuesday, it plated seven runs in the eighth inning to claim an 8-1 win. Thursday’s final score at Carl Junction was much closer as the Bulldogs eked out a 4-3 walk-off win in a game where no Bulldog batter struck out.
Carl Junction had success at the plate early, with Cooper Vediz and Brody Pant logging back-to-back triples. Pant’s triple plated Vediz and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Carl Junction stretched its lead to 3 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second stanza.
Owin Walker drove in Brayden Larery with a single to short, and Aidan Spencer scored on a Cole Beezley sacrifice fly to right field. After a scoreless fourth inning, the Zizzers tied the game at 3-3 with a trio of scores in the top of the fifth inning: Ethan Miller hit a fly ball double to left field and brought Landon Montgomery home to make it a 3-1 game. After a Miller score, Dominic Hale tied the game after stealing home.
Neither team could get a run across in the sixth inning, bringing the game to the decisive last inning. The Bulldogs sent the Zizzers down in order, setting up some late-game heroics for Chris Hayes. Leadoff batter Spencer was hit by a pitch, then West Plains pitcher Zeke Cunningham hit Walker with a pitch in the next at-bat.
Beezley advanced both runners with a sacrifice fly to right before Hayes walked it off with a pop fly single to center that plated Spencer and sealed the walk-off win for the Bulldogs. Hayes finished 2 for 4 with an RBI, Vediz was 1 for 2 with a run, and Walker went 1 for 2 with an RBI. Carl Junction starter Deacon Endicott gave up three runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking two in five innings of work.