Kelly soaks up victory against South Pemiscot

BENTON, Mo. — In a game that was more like a water polo match, Kelly managed to stay afloat and defeat South Pemiscot 7-0 on Thursday, April 27.

Despite the challenging conditions, Hawks’ (15-5) pitcher Drew Klipfel reminded cool and collected, delivering pitch after pitch with precision and accuracy.

“It was a tough day to play,” said Kelly coach Josh Hopkins. “Conditions weren't great, but our kids did a great job handling it all and just playing baseball. Klipfel was lights out on the mound, we were error-free behind him, and we put together great at-bats and hit the ball hard the entire game. Hats off to South Pemiscot for bearing with us and coming up to play. It's always good to have the GreenUp game and support a tremendous family.”

Klipfel earned a complete-game victory after not allowing any runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and one walked batter.

The Hawks stormed out of the gates with lightning speed and thunderous force at the plate, scoring four runs in the first inning after Reece Eftink singled to score Michael Dollins, Dalton Forck doubled to score Mason Eubanks, Eftink scored after tagging up and Colton Essner singled to score Forck.

Kelly increased the lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Those runs came when Eftink singled to score Dollins for the second time, and when Klipfel doubled on a fly ball to center field that scored Forck and Eftink.

Eftink was the team’s top hitter. He finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and scored two runs. Forck was the team’s only other player with multiple hits. He went 2-for-4 with a RBI and two scored runs.

Brayden Bomar took the loss after 3.1 innings of work. He surrendered six earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout and three walks.

Matthew Moore also pitched for the Bulldogs (12-7). He went 2.2 innings and allowed one earned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and three walked batters.

South Pemiscot will compete in the Bootheel Conference Tournament, beginning Saturday, April 29.

Kelly will travel to Class 3, No. 2 Portageville (24-2) on Friday, April 28, and to East Carter (11-10) on Saturday, April 29.

__KELLY 7, SOUTH PEMISCOT 0__

S. Pem 000 000 0 — 0 5 0

Kelly 400 300 x — 7 9 0

W—Drew Klipfel. L—Brayden Bomar. 2B—Kelly: Dalton Force, Michael Dollins.