Cape Central baseball scraps to a 5-3 win over rival Jackson

The Cape Central baseball team is OK with being the scrappy underdog, and they played that role to a 'T' on Tuesday, putting together an exhibition of small ball and doing the little things to upend rival Jackson 5-3 in a SEMO Conference game at Whitey Herzog Stadium in Jackson.

The Tigers put the ball in play with 11 hits -- 10 of which were singles -- and just five strikeouts, were aggressive on the base paths and laid down a pair of critical bunts, putting all the pressure on the host Indians in a game that Jackson (9-8 overall, 2-3 conference) never got the bats going.

"I'm like everybody else. I listen to the radio and I hear everybody talk about everyone else but Cape Central," Central coach Tatum Kitchen said. "That motivates me and it motivates our players. It's nice to sometimes be the overlooked one because that's how our guys are. We're just kind of the small underdogs that just go flat-out hard, and I couldn't be more pleased."

Cape Central's Justin Vaught rounds third and scores on a two-out single by Kaleb Ward during the fifth inning of Tuesday's game against Jackson.

The Indians finished with just three hits. They loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning but did not get a run home, with a failed bunt attempt -- the antithesis of what Central (8-5, 2-1) had done all day -- helping handcuff the offense.

"Going into the game knowing magnitude of a Cape-Jackson game, you know that little things are going to matter a lot," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "The bunts have to get down, you have to make routine plays. You know those things are going to come back to bite you in the rear at the end of the day.

"I think it's a situation where we can't have three hits and win. That's an obvious fact. In our district and our conference that's just not going to get it done. We have to take better approaches at the plate. As an individual, know what each of our plans are and find a way to get stuff done. We can't leave runners stranded with less than two outs, and especially not putting the ball in play. But at the end of the day, if you have three hits, you're not going to win many baseball games."

Jackson trailed 3-0 before knotting things up with a three-run fourth inning. But Central answered right back in the top of the fifth, as Jacquen Cummins was hit by a pitch to open the inning before he stole second, moved to third on a single by Justin Vaught and then scored on a perfectly laid sacrifice squeeze bunt by John Young.

That put the Tigers up for good, and they made it a two-run cushion thanks to a two-out single by Kaleb Ward.

"John Young is a guy who hasn't had a lot of bats early and just hasn't swung it well," Kitchen said. "So there comes a time where you say, 'Sorry, but we've just got to put it in play.' He runs so well that it's kind of a weapon and he's a great bunter. Perfect guy up, perfect situation and he did it perfectly."

Ward was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, Vaught was 2-for-3 with a run scored and one driven in, and Cooper Crosnoe was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

The Tigers stole three bases, executed a pair of sacrifice bunts that led to runs and singled the Indians to death.

"Honestly, that's as good as we've played, and that's how we have to play," Kitchen said. "We don't have power hitters. We don't have pitchers that just blow you away. We've got to play defense, we've got to bunt, we've got to steal bases and we've got to take advantage of the other team's miscues. Today we did that about as good as we could, because Jackson is a good team and Coach Austin is about as good a coach as there is around."

Josh Mlot ~ Southeast Missourian Jackson shortstop Jarrett Newell catches a throw to second base before applying the tag and nabbing Cape Central's Jawone Newell on an attempted stolen base in the third inning Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at Whitey Herzog Stadium in Jackson, Mo. The Tigers picked up a 5-3 win.

Jackson starting pitcher Colten Weber struggled with his control early on, coming to a head in the top of the third when he walked three batters and gave up a pair of hits.

That ended Weber's day on the mound, and reliever Jarrett Newell picked up the second out of the inning before a wild pitch allowed one run to score and Vaught brought home a second runner on an infield single.

Up 2-0, the Tigers added to that lead in the top of the fourth, with Ward opening the frame with a base hit before being sacrificed to second, moving to third on a groundout and then scoring on a single up the middle by Crosnoe for a 3-0 advantage.

Jackson bounced right back in the bottom half of the inning when Tiger starter Brock Baugher had control issues of his own. He walked the first two batters of the inning before getting two outs, but a dropped infield pop-up, rather than end the inning, allowed a pair of Indians to score. Tyler Knight then smacked a triple to the left-field wall to plate Triston Thele and make the score 3-3.

Although it was clear Baugher was laboring at the time, he would have remained unscathed if not for the error. Instead, he finished with four innings pitched while allowing three runs -- all unearned -- on two hits, striking out six and walking three. He was also 2-for-3 at the plate.

Baugher got the win on the mound thanks to the two-run fifth inning. He was removed from the game after walking the first batter he faced in the bottom of the fifth.

Reliever Nick Wiggs earned the save, pitching three scoreless innings and allowing just one hit with one strikeout, one walk and a pair of hit batters.

Wiggs worked out of a desperate situation in the bottom of the seventh after plunking Knight to start the frame and then being victimized by an infield single by Justice Crosnoe (2-for-3). Drew Brown then came on to pinch hit and lay down a bunt to put the tying run in scoring position, but the bunt attempt was popped up and fielded by Central first baseman Clayton Reynolds.

A walk to Weber then loaded the bases with just one out as Jackson's Jarrett Newell worked the count to 3-2. Wiggs responded by sending Newell down swinging for the second out, and four pitches later he induced a ground ball to third for a force out to end the game.

"It's hard to win over here, especially when it gets tight late," Kitchen said. "They load the bases there and the big strikeout versus Newell was huge. He's such a good hitter and we're sitting there on pins and needles saying, 'If we can just get to two outs.' I couldn't be more pleased with their composure. We were one step away from taking Wiggs out, and then he guns [Newell] out.

"I thought Baugher was great. He got a little tired at the end, but that's just how it is at the beginning of the year. We've got two guys -- 1A and 1B -- so when we've got a game like this against a conference and district rival, we'll throw them both to try to get a win. I couldn't be more pleased with Brock, and Wiggs did a nice job in a tough spot."

Newell took the loss for Jackson, going 4 2/3 innings in relief and giving up three runs on seven hits with one strikeout and no walks. Weber pitched the first 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks to go with two wild pitches.

The victory was a big one for a Central team trying to figure out where it fits into the conference picture. The Tigers will face district foe Hillsboro on the road today before hosting SEMO Conference front-runner Poplar Bluff on Saturday in Poplar Bluff.

"I couldn't be more pleased with our effort and our demeanor and just our guys rallying around," Kitchen said. "Today's one of the first days I didn't really do a lot of talking before the game -- they were kind of locked in. You feel like a proud parent. They're figuring out; they've got to figure it out. I can't always be pumping them up and slapping them on the butt and trying to get them going. And some of the kids figured that out.

"At the same time, we've haven't done anything great [in the big picture], but my God, am I pleased with how we played today."

Jackson will look to rebound hosting district opponent Farmington on Saturday.

"It's time for us to find our way right now," Austin said. "We're in a situation where we have a lot of underclassmen in the lineup, but we're over our halfway point now where you're no longer young. It's time to kick it into gear and contribute to the team.

"It's always our goal to play our best baseball in May; thankfully it's not May right now, or we definitely wouldn't obtain our goals."

Cape Central 002 120 0 -- 5 11 2

Jackson 000 300 0 -- 3 3 1

Winning pitcher -- Brock Baugher. Losing pitcher -- Jarrett Newell. Sv -- Nick Wiggs. 2B -- Brock Baugher (CC). 3B -- Tyler Knight (J). Multiple hits -- Cape Central: Baugher 2-3, Cooper Crosnoe 3-4, Justin Vaught 2-3, Kaleb Ward 3-4; Jackson: Justice Crosnoe 2-3.