Central gains a shot at SEMO crown

Fans of the Central Tigers are well versed in the skills of junior Mitch Craft's arm after Craft quarterbacked the Tigers to the state football quarterfinals in the fall.

Craft showed fans what his legs could do Monday when he stole two bases and scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the second-seeded Tigers a 7-6 win over sixth-seeded Jackson in the semifinals of the SEMO Conference baseball tournament at Capaha Park.

The Tigers (14-8) will play top-seeded Sikeston (17-1) in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. today at Capaha Park. Sikeston used a run in the bottom of the seventh to squeeze by fourth-seeded Poplar Bluff 2-1.

Jackson (8-9) and Poplar Bluff (10-10) play at 5 p.m. for third place after third-seeded Notre Dame (11-5) meets fifth-seeded Dexter (12-5) at 2:30 p.m. for fifth place. Notre Dame won twice Monday in games in Chaffee, 13-1 over Scott City and 5-2 over Chaffee.

Craft's improbable seventh-inning heroics started with a single off Jackson reliever Josh Snell. After Jackson replaced Snell with Jason Owen to guard against the bunt, Craft wasted no time swiping second without a throw. Clay Schermann squared to bunt to move over Craft, when the Indians made a fatal mistake.

"As soon as the third baseman charged, third base was open," Central coach Steve Williams said.

Seeing the empty base, Craft took off. Schermann took the pitch, and the Jackson shortstop couldn't field the high throw from the catcher, allowing Craft to score the game-winning run.

"Schermann was bunting, the third baseman went in to cover, and I just went for it," Craft said.

Craft's mad dash home was just the exclamation point on a back-and-forth game.

Unlike Saturday's pitching gem from Tiger starter John Thies, Monday's starter, Tyrone Reece, had control problems and lasted 1 1/3 innings. After the Tigers took a 2-0 lead on a two-out, two-run double by Mark Dunaway in the first, Reece allowed a leadoff single to Tyler Profilet in the second. After retiring the next batter, Reece allowed back-to-back walks to load the bases.

Jake Welch relieved Reece and allowed a two-run single to Tyler Beussink. Welch walked the next batter and then hit Jake Carter to force in a run before retiring the next two batters to get out of the jam.

"We had them on the ropes early and we didn't cash in," Jackson coach Sam Sides said.

The Indians put up another run in the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead. Central responded in the bottom half of the inning by loading the bases without a hit. Aaron Dohogne was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Seth Hudson walked and the Indians forgot to cover first on a Tiger bunt to load the bases.

"In a close game you just can't make mistakes," Sides said. "They executed and we didn't."

Following the Jackson miscue, Craft drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Thies came in to pinch hit and lined a ball past the third baseman to tie the game at four. Jackson starter Austin McDowell advanced the runners with a wild pitch before being replaced on the mound.

Dunaway stuck out, but Josh Ford came up with a two-out, two-run single to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead.

"The hit by Ford was huge," Williams said. "Two-out RBIs is how you win ball games."

The Indians weren't done yet, though. Carter started off the sixth inning with a single, and Trey Bush reached first with a grounder after the Tigers were unable to retire Carter at second base. Trevor Thompson then reached on an error, loading the bases with one out. Profilet finished off the Jackson rally with a two-run single, tying the score at six.

"That's part of high school baseball," Williams said of his team's fielding lapse. "We just have to find a way to overcome those things like we did today."

With the score tied, Jackson put a man on second with one out in the top of the seventh. Hudson, who relieved Welch in the fifth inning, got a pop fly and a ground out from the next two batters to give the Tigers a chance to win it in the seventh.

Central outhit the Indians 9-8 with Hudson and Chris Conrad contributing two hits apiece. Hudson was the winning pitcher. Beussink was 2-for-3 for the Indians with a double and two RBIs.

"We're feeling pretty good," Craft said of the chance to play in the championship game. "Last time they put it to us, but we're not going to let that happen this time."

In Monday's other games:

Sikeston, the state's top-ranked Class 3 team, had a surprisingly tough battle from Poplar Bluff before Jacob Priday's RBI single scored Drew Lawrence in the bottom of the seventh to win 2-1.

Blake DeWitt pitched a four-hitter, struck out nine and also homered for the Bulldogs. His 10th homer of the season in the third inning made it 1-1.

Poplar Bluff freshman John Patty also hurled a four-hitter, with four strikeouts. The Mules scored their only run in the first inning.

Notre Dame bounced back from a first-round loss to Jackson by winning two games.

Jeff Brosey was the winning pitcher for the Bulldogs against Scott City (1-10). Dustin Tatum went 2-4 with a home run and Matt Wulfers also homered. Wayne Essner and Tony Longman provided doubles and Blake Urhahn went 2-4 for the Bulldogs.

Lee Essner improved to 5-1 with the win over Chaffee (8-9). Longman, Wulfers, and Kyle Diveley all had extra basehits, while Tatum went 4-4 and Urhahn was 2-4.

Dexter picked up a pair of wins at Malden to advance to advance to the fifth-place game. The Bearcats beat Kelly 6-2 and New Madrid County Central 6-0.