Central baseball team trims Jackson 11-10

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- When Central sophomore Ramsey Scott's swinging bunt bounced just in front of the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, the ball hung in the air for a painful amount of time for both his teammates and Jackson defenders.

"At first I looked up and I thought, 'Oh crap, I better start running,'" Scott said. "You'd rather be lucky than good."

By the time the ball came down into Jackson pitcher Adam James' glove and he shoveled to catcher Trent Wills, Central's Andrew Williams had scored the winning run in the Tigers' 11-10 win and the lucky Scott was racing past first base.

"I had an idea when I heard the whole dugout yell and everybody scream," Scott said after being asked when he knew he had won the game.

The infield hit ended Jackson's season at 13-8 and created a disappointing ending for the Indians' remarkable comeback in the game.

"We just got ourselves beat," Jackson coach Tatum Kitchen said. "It's kind of our M.O. for the year. We walked people and didn't make plays when we needed and just got ourselves beat."

Jackson fell behind 7-1 as Central scored in each of the first three innings and forced starter Zach McDowell out of the game with just one out in the second inning.

The Indians rallied back with eight runs in the fourth inning, which started with McDowell's single and later capped by his two-run homer.

"We've got some firepower to do something," Kitchen said. "We kind of didn't even get up off the canvas. We had to climb up out of the grave there."

Williams, who started on the mound for the Tigers, was relieved by sophomore Calvin Lovig in the fourth inning.

"They were hitting most of my pitches," Williams said. "I left a couple curveballs up, but most of the inning I was hitting my spots. They were just hitting it the other way."

Central got a run back in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a Jackson error.

"I told them the game was just now halfway over," Central coach Steve Williams said. "When they took the lead, it was the top of the fourth and that's halfway. High school kids sometimes get a little ahead of themselves."

Jackson added a run in the fifth inning before Central scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to win and improve to 15-9 this season.

"The first thing I said was I'm proud of them because it takes special kids and a special team to continue to battle," coach Williams said. "You know, it's easy when you're up 7-1. All the sudden when you're down 9-7 it's not as easy.

"Our kids didn't quit. They didn't hang their heads. They battled and they got a chance and they actually took advantage of it. I'm happy for them, and I'm proud of them."

The win was the first for the Tigers in three attempts against Jackson this season.

"They beat us twice this year," Andrew Williams said. "In other sports we've been beating them, so it was good to beat them in baseball, too."

No. 4 seed Sikeston defeated No. 1 seed Farmington 12-5 earlier in the day to advance to the championship game, where it will face Central at 4:30 p.m. today at Wilson Rozier Park in Farmington, Mo.

Jackson 100 810 0 -- 10 14 4

Central 412 101 2 -- 11 11 1

WP -- Andrew Hileman. LP -- Adam James. HR -- Zach McDowell (J). 3B -- Clay Baker (J) 2B -- Bobby Clark (J), Thomas Crocetti 2 (C). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Laban Petzoldt 3-3, Baker 2-5, Clark 2-3, Zach McDowell 2-3; Central: Trey Gardner 2-5, Hileman 2-3, Ramsey Scott 3-5, Crocetti 2-3. Records -- Jackson 13-8, Central 15-9.