Central wraps up a quick win over Indians

For a baseball game that took four days to complete, the end came swiftly.

Central and Jackson resumed their darkness suspended game on Friday at Central Junior High School and needed just seven pitches to declare a winner.

Mark Dunaway, the third hitter of the day and the Tigers' No. 9 batter, lined a two-out single in the left-center field gap in the bottom of the eighth inning to score Josh Ford with the winning run for a 4-3 Central victory.

"We wanted to get this thing over as soon as possible," Dunaway said. "I got a good pitch, hit it solid and hit it in the right place."

The game-winner came on a 1-1 pitch from Jason Owen, on in relief of starter and losing pitcher Austin McDowell.

Ford singled in the game-tying run Tuesday off McDowell and advanced to second on the throw home, but with just one out was left stranded by the umpires when play was suspended at the request of Jackson coach Sam Sides.

The bus ride back to Cape for seven pitches didn't bother Sides.

"I'd rather do that and have a fair chance," Sides said. "The other day we couldn't see the ball."

Owen faced Chris Daniel after the resumption and got the Tiger left fielder to fly out to right field. Patrick Slattery then grounded to short, and the ball was bobbled before an off-line throw was made. Ford advanced to third on the play. Slattery stole second before Dunaway ended the contest.

"We had the guy in scoring position, and we just wanted to hit the ball, and all three guys did," Central coach Steve Williams said.

Making the win even sweeter was a 20-5 loss the Tigers encountered to Sikeston a day after the Jackson game was suspended.

"This was real big, especially with the way we played Wednesday," Williams said. "To come back and get the win leaves a real good taste."

Central improved to 4-1 with the win and 3-1 in the SEMO Conference. Jackson, which suffered its second straight eight-inning loss, fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

Seth Hudson came on in relief of starter John Thies with two out in the eighth inning and picked up the win.

Jackson had scored an unearned run in the top of the eighth on a two-out RBI single by Tyler Profilet, but Hudson avoided further damage by stranding the bases loaded.

Central hosts Parkway Central today while Jackson entertains Farmington, both contests beginning at noon.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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