Kelly picks up upset over East Prairie

BENTON, Mo. — Confidence, composure and energetic spirit helped Kelly secure an upset win over Class 3, No. 3 East Prairie on Thursday, March 23.

The Hawks (2-1) came through with some timely hits and had a great pitching performance from Dalton Forck in the 6-1 victory over the Eagles (1-1).

“What a great game,” said Kelly coach Josh Hopkins. “East Prairie is a phenomenal baseball team. We got their best today and we stood up with them punch for punch. Our kids did a great job of getting on the board early and fighting through the middle innings. When we got the opportunity to add more on the scoreboard later in the game and put them away, we did.”

Kelly's Dalton Forck (15) throws a pitch during a 6-1 win over East Prairie at KHS on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Reece Eftink gave Kelly a 2-0 lead with a double to right field that scored Michael Dollins and Mason Eubanks in the bottom of the first inning. Dollins and Eubanks each reached base on walks.

“[Eftink] did a great job of sitting back on something different,” Hopkins said. “He’s a fastball hitter, but he’s not going to see a lot of those because everyone knows he’s a fastball hitter. We’ve been working hard and he’s done a great job of expecting the unexpected. He came through for us and got us going.”

East Prairie loaded the bases with one out in the third and fifth innings, but couldn’t maximize its scoring opportunity and came away empty-handed.

East Prairie's Winfield White (17) takes a swing during a 6-1 loss at Kelly on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“There were a couple of times where we were one hit away from tying it up,” said East Prairie coach Gary Scott. “We have the pitching and the defense to allow us to win. We just have to find a way offensively.

“They jumped on us early,” he continued. “But the bottom line is that we had opportunities and we just couldn’t come up with a timely hit.”

Eftink led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single, and the Hawks extended the lead to 3-0 after Forck drove Eftink home with a hit to right field.

Kelly's Reece Eftink (25) awaits a pitch during a 6-1 win over East Prairie at KHS on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Kelly increased the lead to 5-0 after a single by Jett Hull scored Brayden Volkerding and Nicholas Christian.

“We competed at the plate,” Hopkins said. “We felt like we did a good job of not giving up any at-bats. The kids did a great job in the middle innings of staying in the game and having competitive approaches at the plate.

“We didn’t score any runs in those innings but we gave East Prairie stressful innings,” he continued. “That helped us to get into a situation late in the game where we could do something on the bases.”

Kelly's Drew Klipfel (2) throws a pitch during a 6-1 win over East Prairie at KHS on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

The Eagles scored their lone run when Rafe Byassee scored on an error in the seventh inning.

Forck earned the win after pitching 5.2 innings with 11 strikeouts and two walked batters. He didn’t allow any runs on one hit.

Drew Klipfel pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Hawks, allowing one hit with two strikeouts and one walk.

“Forck was on the mound absolutely dealing,” Hopkins said. “He did a great job of staying within himself. He had a great tempo which helped our defense and kept the hitters on their heels. Klipfel came in and shut the door.”

Peyton Hodges took the loss. He surrendered five earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and five walked batters.

Owen Knight pitched the final inning for East Prairie and recorded one strikeout and one walk while not allowing any runs or hits.

Kelly is scheduled to host Chaffee (2-0) on Monday, March 27, and Saxony Lutheran (1-0) on Wednesday, March 29.

“It's still early and we know we’re not going to win any championships in March,” Hopkins concluded. “We have to keep going to work every single day and trying to get better. We just have to make sure that we’re better tomorrow than we were today.”

East Prairie will look to get back on track at Ballard Memorial in Barlow, Kentucky on Saturday, March 25.

__KELLY 6, EAST PRAIRIE 1__

E. Prairie 000 000 1 — 1 1 2

Kelly 200 004 x — 6 5 5

W-Dalton Forck. L—Peyton Hodges. 2B—Kelly: Reece Eftink.