Jackson baseball team blanks Cape Central at district tournament

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Jackson junior Mason Sander proved to the Central Tigers something his teammates and coach already knew about him.

Sander thrives under the pressure of a big game.

With his team's season on the line in the first round of the Class 4 District 1 tournament Saturday at Poplar Bluff High School, Sander excelled in all facets of the game as Jackson ended rival Central's season with a 6-0 victory.

Sander picked up the win on the mound by allowing just two hits in throwing a complete game, provided the game-winning hit and preserved the shutout with a quick-reflex defensive play.

"He's thrown so many big games for us," Jackson coach Tatum Kitchen said. "He beat Oakville at Oakville, he beat Festus at Festus. We know wherever we take Mason, he's going to compete and throw strikes. That's probably as sharp as we've seen him."

Jackson second baseman Logan Bartles flips the ball to first base for a put out during the first inning.

Sander struck out five and walked one to improve to 5-1.

"I like pitching big games, and it was a big game," Sander said. "I had a lot of confidence going out there."

Fourth-seeded Jackson, which scored once in the second and five times in the fifth, improved to 15-7 and will face top-seeded Festus (18-7) for the second time this season in Monday's semifinals.

Festus advanced with a 3-0 victory over No. 8 seed Poplar Bluff.

Sander caught three Tigers looking at third strikes and recorded most of his strikeouts with his breaking pitch.

Central third baseman Josh Meyer throws to first to nail a Jackson runner during Saturday's game in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

"My breaking pitch was working real well, and I kept the ball down and hit my spots and was pretty effective," Sander said. "And my defense made some good plays and made some key double plays. They played well behind me."

Sander also had one of the Indians' six hits, which drove in the winning run in the second inning.

Clay Baker led off the second with a double, one of his two hits, and Sander followed with a sharp one-out single up the middle for a 1-0 lead.

Sander then kept the Indians out front with a nifty snag of B.I. Howard's shot up the middle in the top of the third. Christian Cavaness had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a groundout, but with two outs, Sander fielded Howard's one-hop smash about ankle high and threw to first to retire the side.

The inning was one of three times the fifth-seeded Tigers stranded a runner at second. The Tigers never advanced a runner to third, only had singles by Jamie Pickel in the fourth and Josh Compas in the seventh, and hit into two double plays.

Central pitcher Jamie Pickel delivers against Jackson during the second inning Saturday in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (BRIAN ROSENER ~ Daily American Republic)

"Any time you only get two hits and don't score, you're not going to beat anybody," Central coach Steve Williams said. "Sander was very good on the mound today. He mixed his pitched up real well. He threw his breaking ball for strikes when he needed to, and we just didn't hit today."

Jackson broke open the game in the fifth when it took advantage of two fielding errors by Central pitcher Pickel, who was removed after three batters in the inning.

Pickel had allowed just two hits through the first four innings, striking out four and not walking a batter. However, Pickel walked Sander to lead off the fifth, then threw wildly to first on successive sacrifice bunts by Tyler Koch and Zach McDowell. The first error scored a run, and the second error left runners at second and third with no outs.

"Honestly, we had to go with the small ball because we couldn't get to the Pickel kid," Kitchen said. "He just kept us at bay. I feel we're a pretty good offensive team, and we were scratching to get runs. He was the reason we had to go to small ball."

Tigers third baseman Josh Meyer relieved Pickel and struck out the first batter he faced, but leadoff hitter Matt Crader lined a single past shortstop for a 3-0 lead. Logan Bartles then executed a suicide squeeze bunt for a 4-0 lead, and Tyler Qualls followed with a two-run home run to right field for a 6-0 lead.

It was the fifth home run of the season for the left-handed swinging senior who will play college baseball next year at Louisiana Tech.

"He's been like that all year for us," Kitchen said. "He's about as good as I've seen personally at the high school level. He's just an excellent player to coach and he's just an excellent player on the field. We know if there's a situation he's up, we feel good."

Sander allowed one base runner in both of the final innings, but the Tigers never mounted a serious threat.

"It was kind of nerve-wracking pitching with a one-run lead, then we had the big inning," Sander said.

Central, which had defeated Jackson 6-4 in the SEMO Conference tournament earlier this month after a 9-1 loss to the Indians in mid-April, ended its season at 16-9.

Jackson defeated Festus 9-8 on May 6, rallying from an 8-1 deficit.

Central 000 000 0 -- 0 2 2

Jackson 010 050 x -- 6 6 1

WP -- Mason Sander, 5-1. LP -- Jamie Pickel. HR -- Tyler Qualls (J). 2B -- Clay Baker (J). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Baker 2-3. Records -- Central 16-9, Jackson 15-7.