Jackson baseball ousts top-seed Festus

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- How's this for a district final -- a fourth seed against No. 7?

The Class 4 District 1 baseball tournament again was turned upside down Monday as Jackson knocked off top-seeded Festus 6-3 at Strenfel Memorial Field.

The fourth-seeded Indians (16-7) will face North County, the seventh seed, in the championship game at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

"At this point, every team you play is here for a reason so it don't matter," Jackson coach Tatum Kitchen said. "They're good enough to be here."

Jackson was good enough to beat Festus (18-8) for a second time this season.

Jackson's Clay Baker is met by teammates at home plate after hitting a tie-breaking solo home run during the fifth inning Monday in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (BRIAN ROSENER ~ Daily American Republic)

"We knew if we hit the ball and pitched good like last time we knew we could beat them," senior Matt Crader said.

Clay Baker had the big hit, a tie-breaking home run, Bobby Clark made the heads-up play leading to another run and pitcher Logan Bartels wiggled out of a jam in the bottom half of an eventful fifth inning for the Indians.

"We were very fortunate," Kitchen said. "We had several moments where I thought, 'Can we just hold on.'"

Clark's two-out RBI double in the first put Jackson ahead until Festus tied it at 1-1 in the third on Neel Brendon's home run.

Baker broke the tie with an opposite-field home run to right with one out in the fifth.

Jackson pitcher Logan Bartels delivers to a Festus batter.

"When [Brendon] hit that ball a country mile, you could tell that the momentum might have been changing," Kitchen said. "But [Clark] came up ... that was a big at-bat for us, a big at-bat."

After Baker's bop, Clark reached on an error with a hard grounder to the left side. Mason Sander's bunt then was fielded by the third baseman, leaving the base unoccupied long enough for Clark to go from first to third on the sacrifice.

Two batters later, Clark scored on a wild pitch for a 3-1 Jackson lead.

"Bobby Clark just did a tremendous job reading," Kitchen said. "That's the kids being able to do it. There's no coaching involved. That's him being a heads-up player."

In the Tigers' half of the fifth, Logan Bone doubled with one out and scored on Ryan Yuengel's two-out hit. He nearly circled the bases when the ball got past Jackson's center fielder but Yuengel was stopped after making the turn at third because of a strong relay throw.

Jackson center fielder Zach McDowell dives for a fly ball during the seventh inning Monday in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The ball dropped in for a hit. (BRIAN ROSENER ~ Daily American Republic)

With the tying run 90 feet away, Bartels buckled down on the mound. He carefully pitched around Festus' Nos. 4 and 5 hitters before getting a pop up behind the mound that shortstop Crader easily put away.

"I felt pressure," Bartels said. "Calmed down, took a deep breath and got it."

Said Crader, "It was a big momentum changer that led to a lot of runs scoring."

Jackson scored three times in the sixth for a 6-2 lead. Clark drew a bases-loaded walk and Sander followed with a single down the left-field line that plated two more runs.

Bartels started the rally with a one-out single up the middle before Tyler Qualls walked and Baker singled through the right side to load the bases.

Bartels picked up the win, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks in five innings. He hit a batter and struck out five.

"I've got to give Bartels credit, he threw his rear end off," Kitchen said. "He didn't exactly hit his spots. We've seen him a lot sharper than he was today, but the bottom line is he's a competitor and he threw strikes."

Festus, which also lost as the top seed in the district semifinal last year, left two runners stranded in each of the first two innings. The Tigers left 11 on base in all, six in scoring position.

Bartels pitched around a leadoff single in the first with three strikeouts then got a pair of fly outs to leave runners on in the second inning. He started a double play to erase a leadoff single in the third but the next hitter, Neel, went deep to tie the game.

Baker pitched the final two innings for Jackson, striking out three and allowing an unearned run in the seventh. He got a ground out to leave runners at the corners in the sixth inning and another to end the game with the tying run at the plate.

"We're pretty excited," Crader said of playing in the final. "I think if we hit the ball like we did today, we'll be fine."

Noteworthy

* North County, which upset Sikeston in the first round, beat sixth-seeded De Soto 4-1 on Monday in a rematch of last year's final. The Raiders (14-14) lost to Jackson 14-4 in five innings Wednesday.

* Jackson, which is looking for its ninth district title in baseball and first since 2008, beat Festus 9-8 on May 6 by rallying from a seven-run deficit.

Jackson 100 023 0 -- 6 9 2

Festus 001 010 1 -- 3 9 1

WP -- Logan Bartels. LP -- Logan Bone. HR -- Brendon Neel (F). Clay Baker (J). 2B -- Bobby Clark (J). Bone (F). Multiple hits -- Bone (F) 3-4. Ryan Yuengel (F) 2-3. Bartels (J) 2-5. Baker (J) 2-4. Records -- Jackson 16-7. Festus 18-8.