Moses leans on former rivals in Scott County's 10-2 win

~ Scott County leads the District 14 standings by a half game over Cape Girardeau.

CHAFFEE -- During his high school baseball career, Trenton Moses enjoyed nothing more than taking his best shot at Oran, Advance's nemesis.

During the American Legion season, Moses suddenly finds himself surrounded by Eagles. And it might be just the thing that helps him and the Scott County Post 369 squad enjoy a second straight District 14 championship.

Scott County, which bolstered its lineup this summer with the addition of seven key players from Oran's Class 1 state quarterfinal team that ended Advance's season, topped Sikeston 10-2 on Wednesday in a key district meeting that opened Wednesday's doubleheader.

Moses was on the mound with Chase Seyer behind him at first base, Tyler Beardslee at shortstop, Alex Chasteen at third base and Caleb Seyer in left field.

"I'm friends with a lot of those guys anyway, so we get along pretty good," Moses said. "It's just friendly rivals. It's fun when you get to be with people you don't normally see everyday."

More fun when you're winning.

Scott County won its ninth straight game to improve to 20-8 overall and 5-1 in the district.

"It's coming together," said Scott County coach Denver Stuckey, whose team also includes five players from Scott City and a 2006 Kelly graduate. "Early in the year, we were five guys from one school, three guys from another school. Now, it's all for Scott County.

"We're getting to play games and that helps. We have six games this week."

That kind of workload put Moses on the mound for just the third time this summer. He pitched around a couple of wild spots, getting two double plays triggered by Beardslee and a runner cut down stealing by catcher Cody Carlyle.

Sikeston, which had won the earlier district meeting with Scott County, fell to 14-12 overall and 3-2 in district.

Cape Girardeau is one-half game behind Scott County in the district standings at 4-1. Cape and Scott County will meet Wednesday at Capaha Field. The top seed is an advantage in the five-team, double-elimination bracket.

"That will be a big game," Moses said. "We need to win it."

The Southeast Missouri State recruit improved his record to 2-1 by allowing two runs -- one earned -- with four walks and eight strikeouts. He had won the non-district game earlier this year against Sikeston.

Sikeston's Seth Baker tripled in the second inning that led to Sikeston's first run in the second inning, tying the game at 1-1. After that, Moses allowed only a single in the sixth and a double in the seventh.

By then, Scott County was bordering on invoking the mercy rule.

Sikeston, which brought only 10 players to the park as a number of players were on college visits or otherwise unavailable, was willing to yield this outcome for bigger stakes down the road. Rather than pitch main starter Josh Stevens in the district showdown, Post 114 had Cody Anderson make his first start. Reliever Tyler Scott also made his first appearance.

Scott County's lineup, which has been a strength during the winning streak, knocked out three home runs. Post 369 also took advantage of three errors in a five-run second inning.

"Obviously, winning nine in a row, we're doing a lot of things right," Stuckey said. "When you score eight, nine runs a game, you give yourself a good chance to win."

Caleb Seyer led off the home half of the first inning with a home run.

Rynn Eskew did the same in the second inning. Carlyle added a two-run single and Beardslee singled to help Scott County build a 6-1 lead after two.

Chase Seyer had a two-run single in the fourth. In the fifth, Beardslee was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give Scott County a 9-1 lead. But a double play ended the threat and kept the game going after five innings.

Blake Dirnberger homered in the sixth inning to round out Scott County's scoring.

Eskew and Rusty Hendricks, who was Moses' teammate at Advance, each had two hits for Scott County.

Scott County's winning streak came to an end with a 12-10 loss in the non-district nightcap.

Carlyle had two hits and Hendricks took the loss for Scott County.